Irvine

Dr. Terence Parsons, professor of philosophy, is the new dean of the UC Irvine School of Humanities.

A member of the UCI faculty since 1979, Parsons, 47, served last school year as acting dean. Parsons, who lives in Laguna Beach, is working on UCI’s proposal to be the home of the University of California Humanities Institute. UC President David Gardner has said the privately funded institute will be launched this fall at one of the five UC campuses vying for the program. The other campuses seeking the program, which would offer intensive studies in the humanities, are UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley, and UC Santa Cruz.

A native of New York, Parsons received his doctorate in philosophy from Stanford University.

“Chancellor Jack Peltason is turning a very good university into a great university, and the School of Humanities is prepared to be one of the assets,” Parsons said. “We’re ready, willing and able to push to be great, and my job is to facilitate that.”