McDowell Center names associate professor of Russian as new director

Monday, Feb 03, 2020

UTA’s Charles T. McDowell Center for Critical Languages and Area Studies announced that Dr. Lonny Harrison has taken over as the center’s Director.

Dr. Harrison joins the McDowell Center from the Department of Modern Languages where he is an Associate Professor of Russian. He brings substantial experience in critical languages and global studies to the McDowell Center’s programs. In his short time as director he has implemented a new mission statement and plans to expand the scope of the center’s work. 

Additionally, Dr. Harrison’s experiences that will benefit the McDowell Center moving forward include:

• • A background in managing UTA’s Critical Languages and International Studies program;
• • Lifelong passion for travel and years of experience leading study abroad groups;
• • A college experience just like our students at UTA – falling in love with a language, going on a study abroad program, committing everything he had to mastering the language and immersing himself in its culture in every way he could.

 “It’s an extraordinary privilege to carry on the legacy of Dr. McDowell. He was a one-of-a-kind individual with a storied career, but he always put students first,” says Dr. Lonny Harrison. “The Center’s priority for supporting international exchange and providing scholarships to students who excel in critical languages is the direct result of his vision. My vision for the Center is to make UTA the place to go for critical languages and global studies in the southwest, and to ensure that every student with the passion and drive to study abroad has the means to do so.”

"Dr. Harrison combines his background as an internationally-recognized Russian literature scholar with a long history of promoting and supporting UTA students during study abroad.  He is the ideal academic colleague to lead the McDowell Center, which in the spirit of Professor McDowell, promotes the study of globalization and provides substantial scholarship support to UTA learners who study overseas in the world's most critical areas and languages,” says Dr. Pete Smith, Chief Analytics Officer, Professor of Russian, and Director of Modern Language’s GILT Program.

 

Read more about Dr. Harrison's leadership of the McDowell Center in an article from The Shorthorn.