AEL Vise President

Dean Wm. Bruce Ezell, Jr. Kutztown University

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Dean Wm. Bruce Ezell, Jr. holds a B.S. degree from Lander College in Greenwood, South Carolina. He was subsequently awarded a M.S. and a Ph.D. degree by the Graduate Faculty of Clemson University in Clemson, SC in 1965 and 1971, respectively. Throughout his life, Dr. Ezell has maintained an active interest in several different disciplines and academic endeavors. These interests include: classroom teaching, college administration, field studies in biology, and American History.

His teaching experience includes work at such institutions of higher learning as Clemson University, Winthrop College, the Citadel, College of Charleston, Georgia Southern College, and Medical University of South Carolina. As an administrator, he has served in a variety of posts including Department Chair, a Graduate Dean, and as the Executive Assistant to the president of the University of Main. He has also served as president of a liberal arts college and seminary. Within the fields of biology, his specialty is Medical Entomology. He has studied various flies and mosquitoes as far south as El Salvador, and as far north as Newfoundland.

In 1974, Ezell was named "Conservation Educator of the Year" at the Citadel in Charleston, S.C. In 1975, he was named &quotConservation Educator of the Year" by the South Carolina Wildlife Federation for his work in developing a unique environmental institute for teachers that required the close cooperation of three state universities. Through the 70's and early 80's, Ezell was active in several South Carolina boards handling issues ranging from endangered species to leadership development and tuition grants. In 1986, little wonder that he was elected by the South Carolina legislature to serve on the Board of Trustees for the Medical University of South Carolina.

In 1988, Ezell was the author and originator of the "Palmetto Fellows Proposal," which later became an integral part of "THE CUTTING EDGE" - an omnibus higher education bill that later was enacted into law. He has held offices and memberships in several scientific and professional organizations, including Sigma Xi, the S.C. Entomological Society, and the St. Andrew's Society of Upper S.C. In 1985, he served a s the President of the S.C. Association of Colleges and Universities.

Ezell has been a speaker for a wide variety of civic, church, and academic events. Some of these events have included university commencements and Academic Honors Day Events. In 1989 as part of the centenary of Clemson University, he was invited to give &quotThe University Sermon" at the Ft. Hill Presbyterian Church in Clemson, S.C. He has spoken in over 300 church services and civic club events.

For the past 10 years, Ezell has maintained an interest in promoting interreligious understanding. On two campuses, he has sponsored major seminars that seek to promote better understanding of the relationships between and among the world's major religions. On a third campus he promoted an &quotIslamic Understanding Seminar."

In May 1988, his alma matter, Lander College, conferred upon him the honorary degree, Doctor of Literature.

Dean Ezell is married to the former Nancy Ellen Johnson of Ninety Six, S.C. The Ezell's are proud parents of four children - Nancy Summer, William Bruce, Gretchen Edna, and Heather Elizabeth Ezell. Currently, the family resides in Blandon, Pennsylvania.