Rita Kipp Named Dean at the University of the South

Rita Smith Kipp, a long-time member of Kenyon's faculty, has left the College to become dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Sewanee: The University of the South.

A member of Kenyon's anthropology faculty since 1976, Kipp was named the College's first incumbent of the Robert A. Oden Jr. Professor-ship in the spring of 2000. She most recently held the position of associate provost at Kenyon.

In her new position at the University of the South, Kipp succeeded Douglas Seiters, who had served as interim dean since the departure of Thomas Kazee in June 2003. She began her service as dean on July 1.

A native of Wilburton, Oklahoma, Kipp was awarded a bachelor's degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1968. She earned her doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh, where she wrote her dissertation in cultural anthropology on "The Ideology of Kinship in Karo Batak Ritual," focusing on a Sumatran ethnic group.

Her husband, Richard Kipp, also an anthropologist, works as a financial consultant. They have three children: a married son and twins who recently graduated from Oberlin College.