Professor of English Srinivas Aravamudan will become the new dean of the humanities in Arts and Sciences July 1, George McLendon, dean of the faculty of Arts and Sciences and dean of Trinity College, announced Monday.

Aravamudan will succeed Gregson Davis, Andrew W. Mellon distinguished professor of the humanities in classical studies, who served five years in the position. Aravamudan currently serves as the director of Duke's Franklin Humanities Institute, part of the John Hope Franklin Center-a post he plans to leave once he steps into his role as dean.

"In a university with as much talent as Duke, there are always many excellent candidates," McLendon wrote in an e-mail. "[Aravamudan's] leadership of the Franklin Humanities Institute was a key accomplishment, alongside his breadth of vision for the humanities at Duke-including bringing a global perspective that will be especially important for our students."

Aravamudan said he is aware of the possible effect of the current economic situation on his own goals and plans to lead the department with that in mind.

"I suppose we'll hear more about what's going to happen in the next couple of weeks, but in this context I think it'll be a challenge to take on any job such as this one," he said.

He added that he is unsure how the increasingly tight financial belt will affect faculty hirings and cuts within the department. He noted that humanities professors have already become aware of certain effects: a planned move of the John Hope Franklin Center to New Campus, for example, will likely be delayed.

As a result, Aravamudan said he will try to focus on the most important priorities-like improving the department academically-and make sure those are not compromised by the financial climate.

Aravamudan said he is optimistic about the program, saying he still thinks the humanities department is in very good shape.

"Humanities at Duke are exceedingly stellar and have been so for at least 20 years," he said. "There will be lots of positive things we can do, creating collaboration and convergence among departments and faculties."

Aravamudan, who earned his Ph. D. at Cornell University, taught at the University of Utah and the University of Washington before joining Duke's department of English in 2000.

"[Aravamudan] follows a very successful dean in Gregson Davis, who has been a stalwart advocate for the arts, as well as for cultural understanding across both geography and time, and for the special place of the humanities in a liberal education," McLendon said.

Davis, who will resume teaching, is hopeful that he and his successor share some of the same visions.

"I think [Aravamudan] will bring an enthusiasm for two of the main goals of my term as dean. One of which is to promote what I call 'transcultural humanities,' which nudges the institutions of higher education to revise ideas about Western culture," Davis wrote in an e-mail.

Davis also listed a focus on visual studies as another strategic goal that he championed as dean of humanities.

"Of course you can't accomplish everything in five years, but I'm pleased that some of my ideas have taken root," he said.

Shuchi Parikh contributed reporting.