Jefferson Cowie, Cornell professor of history in the ILR School, has accepted President David Skorton's offer to become the house professor and dean of Keeton House on West Campus.

"His teaching expertise and his rapport with students will be huge assets to Keeton House and to the West Campus House System," Skorton said.

Cowie has earned numerous teaching honors and research awards at Cornell and nationally. He also has received several fellowships, including ones from the Society for the Humanities at Cornell and the American Council of Learned Societies.

Keeton House, scheduled to open August 2008, is named in honor of the late Cornell biologist William T. Keeton. It is the fourth residential building in Cornell's West Campus House System and is currently under construction. The West Campus House System is an innovative undergraduate living and learning environment that is designed to encourage interaction between faculty and students through live-in house professors and deans, along with 30 house fellows -- faculty, administrators and graduate students who are associated with each house.

For more information on the West Campus House System, visit http://www.campuslife.cornell.edu/campuslife/housing/west-campus.cfm.