Steve Lestition
As the Dean of Mathey College, I wear multiple “hats,” so to speak. Together with the Mathey Director of Studies (Dr. Crown), a central responsibility of mine is to assist Mathey students across all four years in achieving their academic goals—whether that be through individual conversations, advising Mathey’s team of faculty advisers (see the “Academic Adviser” page on this website), working with Department Representatives and administrators, recommending tutoring or consultations on study skills, or simply approving extensions to course or university deadlines when a student falls ill or experiences a family emergency. A second hat is that of coordinator of the team of Dean, Director of Studies and Director of Student Life in Mathey, so that we stay in touch with the full range of student concerns and experiences, from academics, to residential life, to extracurricular experiences. In that connection, we work with the Master of Mathey College (Professor Harriet Flower) and the College Administrator to make the college as comfortable a residential home and as stimulating a social environment as it can be.
I came to Princeton in 1993 after teaching history and interdisciplinary social sciences at the University of Chicago, University of California-San Diego, and Smith College. In my years at Princeton, I've taught Freshman Seminars, Writing Seminars, a junior-year seminar in History, and precepted in history survey courses. As I was completing my PhD. in the field of modern German and French intellectual and cultural history, I also worked as a “resident head” in several of the undergraduate dormitories at Chicago. That, plus the fact that I was a “resident adviser” as an undergrad, made the transition to being first a Director of Studies and then Dean at Mathey a comfortable one. Outside the office, I enjoy attending operas and classical music concerts with my wife, cooking and gardening, travel, and a pretty regular exercise routine (jogging, gym workouts, & swimming). Therefore, it's also been a pleasure to be an Academic Athletic Fellow with Princeton’s men’s varsity soccer team for several years now.
