Provost Mary Ann Rankin announced Thursday the new Honors College director in an email to the college’s listserv.

Susan Dwyer, a philosophy professor with an appointment in the women’s studies department, will take over the position Jan. 4, replacing William Dorland, according to the email.

Dorland in April announced his intention to step down as executive director of the Honors College, explaining that he planned to leave his position on June 30 and embark on a yearlong sabbatical before returning to the university as a physics professor.

READ MORE: William Dorland steps down but not out

According to the email, Dorland will remain director until January. The provost noted Dorland had “graciously agreed to continue in the position” until Dwyer was able to take over.

Under Dorland, who became executive director in 2009, the Honors College “added four living-learning programs, doubled its budget per student and raised all adjunct salaries by between 25 and 50 percent,” The Diamondback reported in May.

Dwyer, who is also an Honors College faculty fellow, taught an honors seminar each semester for the past six years, according to the email. Her most recent course, HONR278Z: The Philosophy and Practice of Yoga, was offered last semester.

She is on sabbatical for the fall semester and was not available for comment.

According to the philosophy department website, she is working on a manuscript entitled “The Moral Faculty: An Essay Concerning Human Moral Judgment.” Her philosophy research focuses on two questions, according to her online biography: how moral psychology could be pursued as cognitive science and how academic philosophy could improve public discourse on contemporary moral issues.

Before coming to this university in 2009, the email noted, Dwyer worked at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County as an associate professor and chairwoman of philosophy and served a three-year tenure as a member of UMBC’s Honors College Advisory Board.

CORRECTION: Due to a reporting and editing error, Susan Dwyer’s name was misspelled on first reference and in the headline. The article has been updated.