Dr. Toby Parcel Stepping Down as College of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean; Will Return to Faculty

Dr. Toby L. Parcel has announced that she will be stepping down from her position as dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS) at North Carolina State University effective May 15 in order to increase her personal focus on teaching and research. Parcel will be joining the faculty in the college’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

“While I have found my 16 years in administration both challenging and fulfilling,” Parcel said, “the opportunity to work more closely with students and conduct research is where I want to be going forward.”

“We appreciate Dean Parcel’s service to NC State,” Provost Larry Nielsen said.  “CHASS has grown and prospered under her leadership and we expect the next dean to continue that upward trajectory. Dean Parcel has hired exceptional young and senior faculty and advanced the status of non-tenure track faculty. She has worked to sharpen the image of CHASS and to get the word out more broadly about its excellence. She has also promoted research and moved several new degrees and centers from concept to reality.”

Nielsen said he would convene a search committee and conduct a national search for a new dean beginning this summer.

CHASS Associate Dean for Research Jeffery P. Braden will serve as interim dean for next year.

Parcel has served as dean of the college since August 2006. Parcel came to NC State after serving as dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University. She had previously held administrative and faculty positions at Ohio State University and the University of Iowa.

Parcel has published numerous articles and books on the sociology of work, social stratification, and work and family. Her work has garnered awards from the National Council on Family Relations and the American Sociological Association.

An Ohio native, Parcel received her bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before earning her master’s and doctoral degrees in sociology from the University of Washington.

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