Colorado State Selects Director Of Center For Applied Studies In American Ethnicity Friday, March 7, 1997 FORT COLLINS--Colorado State University has selected Paul Wong to serve as director of the university's Center for Applied Studies in American Ethnicity beginning in July. Wong also will serve as associate provost at the university. The center, housed in the College of Liberal Arts, will undergo a major expansion over the next two academic years, adding four faculty positions. The additions will bring the total number of faculty at the center to nine. The center's primary function is to "serve as the engine that distributes ethnicity studies throughout the whole university curriculum," said Loren Crabtree, dean of the College. "We see the hiring of Paul Wong as an important step in the continuing growth of the center, and we are confident he will provide strong leadership in helping the center realize its potential at the university," said Provost David Young. Currently, the center has five areas of emphasis: Hispanic Studies, Black Studies, Asian Studies, Native American Studies and Comparative Ethnic Studies, or the focus on similarities and differences between cultures. In addition to his duties as director of the center, Wong, as associate provost, will play an important role in recruitment and retention programs of minority faculty and students, Young said. Wong comes to Colorado State from Washington State University, where he serves concurrently as chairman in the Department of Sociology and Comparative American Cultures; professor in the departments of Sociology and Comparative American Cultures; director of the Northwest Center for Comparative American Cultures and Race Relations; and associate dean for special projects in the College of Liberal Arts. Wong, who received his master's and doctoral degrees at the University of California at Berkeley, began his career at that university, serving as acting assistant professor of sociology, as coordinator of Asian American Studies and as director of the Asian American Community Project. Wong also has served on the faculty of the University of Illinois, the University of California at San Diego, San Francisco State University and Arizona State University before joining Washington State. In addition to his work in Asian-American Studies, Wong has conducted research in Hispanic Studies, Black Studies and Native American Studies. Return to the Colorado State University News page. This page © 1997-1998 World Wide Express, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Many news stories on RamLine.com come from the Colorado State University Public Relations Office. You can get copies of the news releases directly by filling out this form.