HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING EXPERT NAMED
DEAN OF U.VA.'S  CURRY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION 

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., March 22 -- David W. Breneman, former 
president of Kalamazoo College in Michigan and a noted authority on
higher education financing, will become dean of the University of
Virginia's Curry School of Education effective July 1, U.Va.
President John T. Casteen III announced today. 
	Currently a visiting professor at Harvard University's
Graduate School of Education, Breneman is chair of the U.S.
Department of Education's steering committee on direct student
loans. He is also serving on the advisory committees of the
Association of American Universities' graduate education project and
the National Academy of Sciences' Office of Scientific and
Engineering Personnel.  
	From 1983 to 1989, Breneman was president of Kalamazoo
College, a liberal arts college in Michigan, where he directed a
capital campaign that exceeded its target of $45 million a year
ahead of schedule.  He has written extensively on public policy
pertaining to higher education finances, particularly during his
eight years as a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution.  
	"Mr. Breneman is an ideal choice for the deanship and highly
regarded nationally for his expertise in the economics of higher
education," Casteen said.  "Because he understands the big picture
of American education, he will help forge constructive links between
the University and K-through-12 education." 
	Breneman, who was once named by the American Council on
Education and Change Magazine as one of the nation's 100 leading
young educators, succeeds James M. Cooper, who stepped down after 10
years as dean of the Curry School in 1994 to return to full-time
teaching and research.  Robert H. Pate Jr. has been serving as
interim dean this academic year. 
	Breneman is currently investigating financial issues for
higher education in California, with a grant from that state's
Higher Education Policy Center.  He recently completed researching
the economics of private liberal arts colleges -- a project funded
by a $200,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. 
	"I am particularly impressed that U.Va. has done such a good
job of finding other revenue resources in a time of severe state
budget cuts.  That creativity contributes to a strong sense of
community and common cause," Breneman said. 
	A graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder with a
degree in philosophy, Breneman earned a doctorate in economics in
1970 from the University of California at Berkeley.  He is author or
editor of more than a dozen books, monographs or reports and
numerous articles, primarily addressing funding issues.  Among his
recent addresses was "For Whom is Liberal Education Produced?", a
paper prepared for the 300th anniversary of The College of William
and Mary in 1993. 
	"One of the reasons I was attracted to the University is the
strength of the Curry School's teacher preparation program.  I am an
advocate of teacher preparation programs based on a liberal arts
education, as the Curry School's five-year dual-degree program is.
I would like to expand the Curry School's links with liberal arts
disciplines," Breneman said. 
	He is married to Donna J. Plasket, who holds a doctorate
from Harvard's Graduate School of Education and is a project
research director there.
###
March 22, 1995