On July 1 2009, Michael Halleran became the new provost (chief academic officer) of the College. Before entering upon his career as an administrator, Halleran was a well known and highly regarded scholar of classical literature, particularly of the Greek tragedians Sophocles and Euripides. After receiving his PhD in Classics from Harvard, Halleran taught for many years at the University of Washington, where he built his reputation as a first-rate educator, and produced many important works of scholarship on Greek drama, including several scholarly articles on Euripides and Sophocles and acclaimed translations of Euripides' plays Heracles and Hippolytus. Before arriving at William & Mary he served as dean of Arts & Humanities at UW and of Arts & Sciences at the University of Miami (Fla.). In addition to his post as provost, Halleran also holds the rank of
Professor in the department of Classical Studies. He has expressed the
hope that after settling into his new position he might teach an
occasional class or two in the department.