Sitting with her feet resting on her bookcase, Professor of History Susan G. Pedersen '82 seems relaxed about taking over undergraduate education next year.

"I'm not a dreader, and I'm not an anticipator," she says. "I think I'll find this interesting though."

Pedersen will next semester replace William M. Todd III, professor of Slavic languages and literatures and of comparative literature, as dean of undergraduate education.

An administrative post that fills the ambiguous space between dean of the college and dean of the Faculty, the dean of undergraduate education, broadly speaking, oversees all aspects of the undergraduate curriculum.

The dean has direct oversight of the Core, Expository Writing and all concentrations.

The position has in the past been filled by giants of the Faculty like Marquand Professor of English Lawrence Buell and beloved former master of Adams House and Loker Professor of English Robert J. Kiely '60.

But Pedersen says she expects to handle the job a little differently.

For one thing, she's the first woman to hold the post.