Dr. Jay Stubblefield Named VP, Dean of the College

Rocky Mount, N.C. — North Carolina Wesleyan College announced today that Dr. R. Jay Stubblefield has been named Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, effective June 1. Stubblefield had served as Associate Dean at Wesleyan since 2006.

He succeeds Dr. John Thornell, who left in May, after two years at Wesleyan, to become Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at Northern Alabama University.

“Jay is a terrific addition to our leadership team here at the school,” President James A. Gray III said. “He will lead the faculty with skill, provide our academic programs with the rigor and creativity that we need, and overall be an inspiration and mentor to our students.”

Stubblefield brings to his new position nearly a decade of service to Wesleyan. He came to the College in 2000 as an Assistant Professor of English. In that role he developed and taught courses in literature, composition, and business communication on the Rocky Mount campus and at Wesleyan’s Adult Degree Program sites in Goldsboro and the Triangle.

Early in his career at Wesleyan he interviewed and surveyed business leaders in the Rocky Mount area and in Research Triangle Park in order to improve strategies for teaching Business Communication at Wesleyan. His academic accomplishments and other service to the College led to his selection as Wesleyan’s 2006-2007 Jefferson-Pilot Professor.

Stubblefield also has served since 2004 as Coordinator of Distance Education, bringing about growth in Wesleyan’s program of online course offerings.

Before coming to Wesleyan, he was Assistant Professor of English for two years at Texas A&M International University.

“I am greatly humbled and grateful for this opportunity,” Stubblefield said. “I look forward to meeting the unique challenges of the administrative position while capitalizing on opportunities to improve the College.”

Stubblefield is a native of Appomattox, Virginia. He earned his B.A. degree in English at North Carolina State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in English at the University of Kentucky, where he was a four-year recipient of the Haggin Fellowship. He co-authored a book, A Critical Companion to Jonathan Swift, with former Wesleyan English Professor Dr. Paul deGategno. He also has authored numerous essays, book chapters, and textbook supplements, and has presented at professional conferences nationwide.