“Ultimately, Dr. Vanden Houten’s extensive and broad leadership experience, especially since I am new to the College, swayed me to select him,” said Flagler President John Delaney. “I trust he will use his permanency to strengthen the Academic Affairs division and programs.”
In his interim role, Vanden Houten helped lead the academics program as it navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as through the retirement of former President Joseph Joyner and Delaney’s new presidency.
Before joining Academic Affairs as the Dean of Academic Life, he had been an associate professor of Political Science at Flagler since 1997 and was a former chair of the Flagler College Faculty Senate. His classroom lectures had been videotaped and broadcast on C-SPAN’s “Lectures in History” program.
Vanden Houten’s primary teaching interests included courses in the history of political thought and international relations. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science and his
M.A. in International Relations from the University of South Carolina. He previously taught at the University of South Carolina.
In 2021, he took over the interim role from retiring Academic Affairs Dean Alan Woolfolk, who had served in the position since 2007.
