WWU’s Peter Pihos appointed as interim dean of Western’s Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies

Western Washington University Associate Professor of History Peter Pihos has been appointed as interim dean of Western’s Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies. 

WWU Provost Brad Johnson said he was pleased that Pihos will guide Fairhaven into the new academic year, which begins later this month. 

“I am pleased that Peter has agreed to serve in this role and look forward to working with him and with the college as we head into a new academic year. In considering candidates for the role, it was clear that Peter has built many significant connections to Fairhaven faculty, staff and students, particularly during his service as UFWW President,” Johnson said. “Peter has a significant interest in the college, its mission, programming, and students, and a background that provides experiences, skills, and lived context for the position.” 

Pihos has taught in Western's History Department since 2018. Prior to coming to Bellingham, he was a visiting professor at Deep Springs College, an experimental liberal arts institution based in the high desert of Eastern California since 1917. Pihos also taught discipline-based first-year writing at Duke University’s Thompson Writing Program and was a visiting assistant professor of African American History at Williams College. 

A native of the Chicago area, Pihos completed his undergraduate work at Harvard, attained his juris doctor at the New York University School of Law and was subsequently the Raoul Berger-Mark DeWolfe Howe Legal History fellow at Harvard Law School in 2012-2013. He was awarded his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 2015. 

Pihos said he was excited to have the opportunity to accept the appointment to Fairhaven, which was founded in 1967 and which retains its position as one of the first nontraditional self-guided interdisciplinary studies colleges in the nation. 

“I am thrilled to have the chance to work with Fairhaven College’s students, faculty, and staff in building deeply meaningful, interdisciplinary liberal arts experiences at Western,” Pihos said. “We will continue to serve the Western community by providing a unique educational space for experimentation and growth in all our programs — from Fairhaven’s build-your-own Interdisciplinary Concentration, to the Outback Farm and Salish Sea Studio, to many individual courses that any Western student may take.” 

Find out more about Western’s Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at https://fairhaven.wwu.edu/.