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CORVALLIS - Fred Horne, dean of the College of Science at Oregon State University since 1986, has announced he will retire as dean on Dec. 31, 1999.

As science dean, Horne is in charge of one of the major academic units at OSU. Its 12 departments offer bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, plus special pre-professional programs in health and medicine. The science faculty teaches about 28 percent of the total credit hours taught by the university and are major producers of basic and applied research.

Horne said he takes pride in the success of two particular programs he helped establish at OSU - the Science and Math Investigative Learning Experience (SMILE) and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). Both programs were designed to encourage young minority and disadvantaged students to pursue and continue their education in science, math and engineering.

He said he is also proud of the scholarly accomplishments of the "exceptionally talented faculty" in the college. Women have played a key role in the College of Science under Horne. He is recognized as a national leader for placing women scientists in leadership positions within the college.

"We have hired a lot of wonderful faculty of both genders and various ethnicities," Horne said. "Women faculty members play a vital role in the college of science. I've tried to pay particular attention to the needs of dual career couples."

Horne came to OSU from Michigan State University, where he served as associate dean of the College of Natural Science. A professor of chemistry, Horne was associate chair of MSU's chemistry department from 1975-82. Horne was on the chemistry faculty at Stanford University from 1963-64.

He earned his bachelor's degree at Harvard, where he was a Harvard National Scholar, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow. Horne was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford from 1992 to 1993.

Horne, who will be 66 years old when he leaves the university, said he has been planning his retirement for the past two years but said he waited to finalize a date until he was optimistic the budget situation for the college was stable.

An interim dean for the college will be named later this year, said OSU Provost Roy Arnold.