Barry Dean

Barry Dean, new assistant residence hall director (RD) at Grier, is also Erskine’s new assistant baseball coach. He comes to Erskine College from Major League Baseball International (MLBI), where he has represented the United States as a baseball diplomat for the past two years, traveling to England, Germany, Brazil and Nicaaragua to spread the game of baseball to countries where the game is less developed.

Previously, Dean served as head coach at Andrew Community College in Cuthbert, Ga., and head coach at Wallace-Dothan Community College in Alabama. His college coaching career began when he served as graduate assistant at Troy State University, where he completed master’s degrees in Foundations of Education (1992) and Physical Education (1995) and became certified to teach in grades K through 12. He completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology at Auburn University at Montgomery in 1990.

A native of Montgomery, Ala., Dean is single and enjoys fishing, golf, reading, and working out. His leisure time at Erskine may well be limited, however, since he will work as pitching coach, recruit student-athletes, help maintain the baseball field, and help monitor baseball players’ academic progress, in addition to teaching physical education activity courses.

The assistant baseball coaching position initially attracted him to Erskine College, but he believes he will enjoy getting to know other students through the RD position. Dean says, "Balancing my own hectic schedule and being able to meet the needs of my residents are the aspects of the RD job that I see as the greatest challenges."

As a newcomer to the Erskine campus, Dean already admires his fellow RDs, whom he has had a chance to observe during RD orientation meetings. "I feel my peers have a genuine concern for each student’s well-being, not only while they are here at Erskine, but concern that they will succeed in life after they leave here."