New department chairs named

Wake Forest University has appointed three new department chairs, effective fall 1996.

Nancy Cotton, professor of English, has been appointed chair of the English department. Since Cotton joined the university in 1977, she has held several administrative appointments. She served as director of the master of arts in liberal studies program from 1986-1993. She also has been assistant dean and acting dean of the graduate school of arts and sciences. Cotton earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin, then completed her master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and her doctorate at Columbia University.

Charles Kimball, a professor of religion at Furman University specializing in Middle Eastern religious studies, has been appointed chair of the religion department. An ordained Baptist minister, Kimball holds a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University, a master of divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a doctorate in comparative religion from Harvard University.

Candelas Newton, professor of Romance languages, has been named chair of the Romance languages department. Author of three books on the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca, Newton has taught at Wake Forest since 1978. Newton has also been coordinator of Wake Forest’s study abroad programs in Columbia and Spain. She received master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Pittsburgh.