Andrew Hippisley, chair of linguistics at the University of Kentucky, was named dean of Wichita State’s Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Tuesday.

Hippisley, who joined Kentcky’s linguistics program in 2007, was one of four finalists for the position. He replaces Ron Matson, longtime dean of LAS, who retired after 48 years at WSU.

“I am a strong believer in and advocate for a liberal arts experience,” Hippisley said in a university press release. “As dean of the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, I would serve as champion-in-chief of a liberal arts education as an intrinsic value whose scope is the whole person.”

Other finalists for the position included an interim dean of the college of humanities and social sciences at George Mason University; an associate dean of political science at Jackson State University; and an associate dean of the college of arts, humanities, and social sciences at Millsersville University of Pennsylvania.