FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BARBARA BUSSE NAMED DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION AND FINE ARTS AT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY IN LOS ANGELES

February 18, 2004 -- Barbara J. Busse, communication studies professor and long-time administrator at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, has been named Dean of the university's College of Communication and Fine Arts. The appointment was announced today by LMU President Robert B. Lawton, S.J.

In making the appointment, Lawton cited Busse's strong administrative background and leadership in academic affairs, curricular development, research, and student life.

"I am extremely pleased to name Barbara Busse to this important leadership position at LMU," said Lawton. "The programs provided through the College of Communication and Fine Arts help transform our students as they learn from exceptional scholars and artists in communication studies, visual arts, and the performing arts. Barbara is the perfect person to lead the College into the future."

Added Joseph Jabbra, LMU's Academic Vice President, "Busse has the exceptional skills to motivate and support faculty in becoming excellent teachers while they remain productive as scholars and artists. In her more than 30 years here at LMU, she has worked well with her faculty colleagues to provide the all-around excellence we wish to instill in our students."

Busse has centered her teaching on organizational communication, conflict management, and gender studies. She has been named Teacher of the Year in her college, among other teaching awards. Her scholarship interests focus on policy research, conducted in collaboration with her husband, Jay B. Busse, LMU's debate coach. Together, they have published more than 40 volumes of research and theory analysis that have been used by forensics institutes at the nation's top universities. She has been named Woman of the Year by California Women in Higher Education and has been recognized in the California State Assembly for her distinguished work in debate education.

Busse joined the university in 1969 as a faculty member at Marymount College on the Westchester campus. She has held the post of chairperson of Communication Studies (1999-2001) and of Theatre, Speech, and Dance (1982-1984). She also served a previous term as acting dean of LMU's College of Communication and Fine Arts (1991-1992), following an appointment as the university's first associate academic vice president (1989-1991).

The College of Communication and Fine Arts at LMU consists of 40 full-time faculty members, who teach approximately 900 student majors and prepare them for scholarly research, intercollegiate debate competition, artistic exhibitions and other creative work, and performance opportunities in Music, Theatre, and Dance. CFA also sponsors the Laband Art Gallery and the Visiting Artists and Lecturers Series. CFA students and faculty explore the richness of human expression in a diverse variety of forms. Hallmarks of the programs include close student-faculty interaction, small classes, and comprehensive understanding of the theory, methods, technique, as well as the historical and social context of human communication and artistic expression.

In accepting the appointment, Busse said: "LMU's College of Communication and Fine Arts provides both faculty and students a distinctive context in which to study and offers extraordinary opportunities to benefit from the cultural, artistic, and commercial metropolis that is Los Angeles. I look forward to continuing to help our faculty, staff, and students create and sustain a vital and diverse intellectual community."

About Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles
Founded in 1911, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles is the eighth largest of the nation?s 28 Jesuit colleges and universities and the largest Catholic university in Southern California. With a strong base in the liberal arts, LMU serves more than 5,300 undergraduates and about 3,000 graduate students. Almost 400 African American students attend LMU, which consists of four colleges: the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, the College of Business Administration, the College of Communication and Fine Arts, and the College of Science and Engineering, as well as the School of Education, the School of Film and Television, the Graduate Division, LMU Extension, and Loyola Law School. For more information, visit the LMU website at www.lmu.edu.