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College of Liberal Arts & Sciences > About > Message from the Dean

Dear Friends of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences:

I am delighted to greet you from the Dean’s Office of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS)— or, as we call it around here, class.

Having begun my Wayne State career in the original College of Liberal Arts in the mid-1960s, it seems very natural and comfortable to do so, and I’m pleased to report that the merger of the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Science, and portions of the former College of Urban, Labor and Metropolitan Affairs is now official and functioning smoothly. Our expanded office is located on the second floor of Old Main. CLAS now includes 24 departments and well over 400 faculty members.

CLAS has a number of distinctions as the result of the merger, including being the provider of:

  • 66% of the total undergraduate credit hours in the university
  • the core learning experience throughout the university
  • the requisite math and science for pre-professional undergraduates
  • strong graduate education at Masters and PhD levels
  • 39% of the PhD degrees awarded in the university


Currently, the College has:

  • a 15,000 student headcount
  • Approximately $20 million/yr in external grants and contracts
  • Several departments nationally ranked (National Science Foundation and/or National Research Council rankings)


Our CLAS Board of Visitors, under the able leadership of Michael Acheson, has also held its first combined meeting, and continues to be a great asset to the College. Several additional members have recently joined our Board: David Burnett, NanoScience Engineering Corp.; David Collins, Office of the General Counsel, General Motors Corporation; Dr. Randall Charlton, CEO of Asterand, Inc.; Dr. Fred Frank, CEO of TalentKeepers, Inc.; Ronald Hall, CEO of Bridgewater Interiors, LLC; Iltefat Hamzavi, M.D, Dermatology Department, WSU Medical School; Paul Nine, Partner, Paul L. Nine and Associates, P.C.; and Dr. Guy Stern, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, and former Provost of WSU.

Despite all the challenges presented by the current economic climate, the students and faculty of this college continue to excel, and Wayne State remains a magnificent resource for the citizens of our state. We all would be very pleased to have you visit our campus and witness this vitality in person, and I cordially invite you to do so.

With warm regards,

Robert L. Thomas
Dean