New Director Named for Study Abroad Program

WORCESTER, Mass. – Mark E. Lincicome, associate professor of history at Holy Cross, has been named the new director of the study abroad program at the College. The announcement was made today by Timothy Austin, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College.

Lincicome succeeds Maurice A. Geracht, who is stepping down after 17 years of distinguished service to the program. Geracht will continue in his position in the English department as Stephen J. Prior Professor of Humanities.

Lincicome, a resident of Holden, Mass., holds an A.B. in history from Bowdoin College and a Ph.D. in East Asian languages and civilizations from the University of Chicago. He joined Holy Cross in 1991, after a three-year term as associate director of the Asian studies program at the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to that, he had held several positions in which he gained valuable experience in international education: from 1985 to 1988, he was executive director of the Japan America Society of Chicago, while he also held teaching positions in Japan on several occasions during the 1970s and 1980s.

He has served the College in a number of capacities, most notably as chair of the history department for four years. Committees to which he has been elected include the Committee on Tenure and Promotion and the Academic Standing Committee. He was also coordinator of the College’s Asian studies program in 2000-2001.

Lincicome’s published work includes the book, Principle, Praxis, and the Politics of Educational Reform in Meiji Japan (University of Hawai’i Press, 1995), and a number of articles in peer reviewed journals. He is currently on sabbatical leave for which he received both a Fulbright Scholar Fellowship and a Japan Foundation Short-Term Research Fellowship.

The study abroad program at Holy Cross is noted for its commitment to integrating students as completely as possible into the educational system and social culture of the host country. The study abroad program directly enrolls students in internationally renowned academic institutions and provides the kind of academic guidance, counseling, language and tutorial support systems, and living conditions that will foster their educational experience.

Lincicome will assume his duties on July 1.