Dr. Douglas Reimondo Robertson has been named the first full-time director of the Teaching and Learning Center at Eastern Kentucky University.

Robertson, whose career in higher education spans 28 years, has served as a professor of educational leadership and director of the University Teaching and Learning Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas the past two years. He will join EKU later this year.

"We are delighted to be able to welcome Dr. Douglas Robertson to the Eastern Kentucky University family," said Dr. Michael Marsden, provost and vice president for academic affairs. "Dr. Robertson brings to his new position almost a quarter century of experience in higher education as a faculty member and administrator at three different institutions and as the founding director of the University Teaching and Learning Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"Building upon the superb leadership of Dr. Hal Blythe and Dr. William Jones this year in getting Eastern Kentucky University's Center for Teaching and Learning operational, Dr. Robertson will, with the counsel and support of the Teaching and Learning Center Advisory Committee, lead the Center to its full potential as a centerpiece of academic life here at Eastern Kentucky University."

EKU established the Teaching and Learning Center last year to serve as the focal point for the ongoing professional development of faculty and innovative teaching and learning strategies. It offers a wide range of services designed to enhance teaching effectiveness, including peer mentoring, professional consulting on all aspects of instructional design, forums and workshops and resource materials. Dr. Hal Blythe and Dr. Bill Jones, both long-time EKU faculty members, have served as co-interim directors of the Center since its inception.

Before joining the UNLV faculty in 1999, Robertson taught in the School of Education at Portland State University from 1987 to1999. While at Marylhurst College in Oregon from 1977 to 1989, he held numerous positions, including chair of the Department of Social Science, director of the Human Studies Program and campus coordinator of the National Project on Quality Undergraduate Education. Robertson began his teaching career at Syracuse University.

He is the author of "Self-Directed Growth" and has published numerous journal articles and made many presentations at colleges and universities nationwide. A proposal for a second book, "The Development of Professors-As-Teachers: A Model," is under review.

Robertson is a member of the editorial boards for To Improve the Academy and the Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, and a member of the Awards Committee for the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education.

"My wife, Sue, and I are very excited about our move to Richmond and my work at Eastern Kentucky University," Robertson said. "We were attracted to EKU for many reasons, not the least of which is its reputation for fine teaching and exceptional faculty. All of the EKU communities have impressed us deeply -- faculty, students, administration, staff, alumni, Richmond and the surrounding region -- with their sophistication, graciousness, and commitment to EKU. Clearly, something special is happening at EKU, and we want to be a part of it. My work as director of the Teaching and Learning Center will build on the groundbreaking efforts of the interim directors, Dr. Hal Blythe and Dr. Bill Jones, two individuals whose work to get the center off the ground and running has been monumental.

"In addition, I have been delighted by the amount of supporting infrastructure that already exists for the center in the form of strong relationships with other pertinent units within the university," Robertson continued. "The University leadership definitely values teaching and faculty development. I have plenty of ideas and experience with teaching and learning centers and faculty development in general, but my first order of business will be to get out and meet people across the University in order to learn about EKU and how folks think that EKU's Teaching and Learning Center can best help them. We are looking forward to starting the process of settling into a community that we hope to call our home for a long time to come."

Robertson earned a bachelor's degree in cultural geography from the University of Oregon in 1973, a master's degree in environmental perception from Syracuse University in 1975 and a doctoral degree in geography from Syracuse in 1978.

His wife, Dr. Sue Robertson Reimondo, is interim dean of the Honors College at UNLV.