DENTON (UNT), Texas -- Art Goven, interim dean of the University of North Texas College of Arts and Sciences since August 2012, has decided to return to his previous position as chair of the Department of Biological Sciences.

Warren Burggren, UNT provost and vice president for academic affairs, called Goven, a professor of biological sciences, "an extraordinary leader for UNT" who has also served as vice president for research.

"Art epitomizes selfless service on behalf of the university, and I join a long list of individuals who are highly appreciative of his efforts and who wish him well as he returns to his position as department chair," Burggren said.

David Holdeman, professor of English and chair of the UNT Department of English, will become the new interim dean for the College of Arts and Sciences, effective Nov. 1. Burggren said Holdeman "has proven to be one of UNT's most successful department chairs."

"Leading the large and complex Department of English has very well prepared David to step into this key administrative role while we continue our search for the permanent leadership of the College of Arts and Sciences," Burggren said.

Holdeman joined the Department of English faculty in 1992 and has served as chair since 2006. He is a specialist in modern Irish and British literature, poetry and drama, particularly the works of W.B. Yeats, and the theory and practice of scholarly editing. Holdeman is the co-editor of W. B. Yeats in Context, which features 39 essays by distinguished Yeats scholars from around the world. His previous books include The Cambridge Introduction to W. B. Yeats; "In the Seven Woods" and "The Green Helmet and Other Poems": Manuscript Materials by W. B. Yeats; and Much Labouring: The Texts and Authors of Yeats's First Modernist Books.

Holdeman is an active member of the Society for Textual Scholarship and has led UNT alumni and others on a Travel-Learn trip to Ireland.

The recipient of the Department of English's 2013 Preston Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching, Holdeman was also honored as a "Top Prof" by UNT's chapter of Mortar Board honor society and chosen as Faculty Member of the Year by Graduate Students in English.

Holdeman received his bachelor's degree in English from Indiana University and master's and doctoral degrees in English language and literature from the University of Michigan.