Dr. Clay Motley, interim dean of the FGCU College of Arts & Sciences since August, has accepted an offer to be the next dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, effective Sunday.
Motley is a native Kentuckian who lived for 10 years in South Carolina before coming to Southwest Florida. Since 2004, he has held leadership roles in honors programs and colleges at three different universities, and his primary professional responsibilities at FGCU focus was as the founding dean of the Honors College.
His scholarship focuses on the culture of the U.S. South, such as its popular music and religion. He teaches on the history of popular American music, is currently writing a book-length music history of Clarksdale, Mississippi, and frequently presents and publishes on topics related to the Mississippi Delta.
He is a member of the National Collegiate Honors Council and the Society for the Study of Southern Literature.
His home department is Language & Literature, and he has maintained teaching activity and a scholarly agenda in the humanities since joining FGCU in 2015, including receiving a National Endowment for the Humanities grant in 2018.
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