Peter John Loewen grew up in a house surrounded by books, where politics was the principal topic of conversation around the dinner table. Though his parents hadn’t gone to college, they let him know throughout his childhood that they expected him to.

Loewen didn’t just go to college: he found “a life in the university.” He said his experience as an undergraduate at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick “opened my eyes to the world.” Today he is the new Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.

As the leader of Cornell University’s largest college, Loewen will be part of opening the eyes of thousands of students to their possibilities. The chance to do that – while supporting A&S faculty in their research and showcasing the value of a liberal arts education — is what brought him to Cornell.

“The university has a special mission of helping students to discover their future selves, to draw a picture of who they could be, and then helping them to get there,” he said. “And at this moment, when there’s growing skepticism about the public relevance and value of universities, we need to be ready to articulate the outsized impact that universities like Cornell have to change lives and change the world.”

Read the full story on The College of Arts & Sciences website.