Greg Heiberger took over as dean of the Van D. and Barbara B. Fishback Honors College on Feb. 22.
Heiberger has already held numerous faculty positions at SDSU. He served as a professor for the Department of Biology and Microbiology, the associate dean of academics and student success for the College of Natural Sciences and was interim dean for the Honors College when the former dean, Rebecca Bott-Knutson, resigned from the position after the 2025 spring semester.
Heiberger said his goals for the program are to continue the program’s goals and expectations, encourage and push students to be innovative and to make sure it is accessible to students who want to participate in the program.
“I feel fortunate for the opportunity,” Heiberger said. “I am excited to be able to keep thinking about the future and what the honors program has meant to students.”
The process to select the new Honors College dean began in the fall semester. A selection committee was led by David Earnest, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and chaired by Provost Dennis Hedge. The committee consisted of various leaders and representatives from different colleges campus wide.
“We made sure that a position like the Honors College deanship connects with various units throughout the university,” Hedge said. “We wanted to make sure that we had a nice variety of individuals really serving the university in a number of different ways.
58 people applied for the position near the beginning of fall semester. The selection committee held online video interviews with the candidates and thoroughly vetted each of them.
By the end of the fall semester, the selection committee had chosen four finalists, including Heiberger, as well as three other candidates. These candidates visited and saw the Brookings community, toured campus and were interviewed by the selection committee and other university leaders and representatives.
“They met with a whole host of people,” Hedge said. “Individuals all the way from President Dunn, through all of the other deans, through various other stakeholders, faculty and students.”
By the second week of February, the committee chose Heiberger for the role as dean. Heiberger shared the news with the Honors College community through an email, saying, “This is a role and an opportunity I take on with great reverence for the past and with a sharp focus on the future.”
“Greg has been here for a number of years and been very successful in his roles,” Hedge said. “I know we’ve had great success with the Fishback Honors College and I’m excited for Greg’s leadership and know the college will remain very successful.”
Hanna Holmquist, an Honors College instructor, said she is excited to work alongside Heiberger.
“I think that he brings great energy, experience and a lot of facets of SDSU that will help build on traditions that we have within the Honors College,” Holmquist said.
Noah Roerig, the Honors College adviser, also shared similar feelings about the college’s future.
“He continues to think about how we can innovate and provide high quality and impactful experiences for all students at SDSU,” Roerig said.
