Paul B. Bell Jr., dean of the University of Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences and vice provost for instruction at OU, assumed the presidency of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences at its annual meeting in Baltimore, Md.

CCAS is the largest national association serving the deans of colleges of arts and sciences. CCAS' informal motto, "Deans helping deans to dean," reflects the role CCAS plays in providing professional development opportunities for academic deans and department chairs to help them be more effective in meeting their leadership and management responsibilities.

Bell joined the OU faculty in 1979 as an assistant professor of zoology. In 1989, he was named faculty administrative fellow in the Provost's Office, later adding the titles of university registrar and associate provost for undergraduate education.

In 1997, he moved into his current positions of vice provost for instruction and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, making Bell the third-longest-serving dean in the history of the College of Arts and Sciences. The college is OU's oldest, largest and most diverse college and provides 61 percent of course hours to the university student body. He also serves as chairman of the board for the OU Confucius Institute and is on the board at the George M. Sutton Avian Research Center and the Oklahoma School of Sciences and Mathematics.

At OU, Bell has taught cell biology and histology, primarily to zoology majors and pre-medical students. He also has taught honors courses in biomedical ethics.

Bell has earned several honors at OU, including the 1996 Special Recognition Award, presented by the Oklahoma Academic Advising Association; the 1998 OU Associates Distinguished Lecturer Award; and the 1987 Amoco Good Teaching Award.