The Office of Affirmative Action has hired a new assistant director more than nine months and 30 applications after a former assistant director was fired for forgery.

The Affirmative Action office appointed Frederick Dearborn of Geneva Jan. 16.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Dearborn said. “It’s a good opportunity to work” as part of the university and the department, he said.

Dearborn takes the place of Vivian Hammoud, who was fired last April for forgery and falsifying her credentials.

Dearborn had nine years experience in the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights before coming to NIU. In his position at the civil rights office, he provided advice about civil rights statutes to colleges in Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, he said.

He also conducted workshops and training statutes on civil rights statutes, complaint filing, sexual harassment and the rights of individuals with handicaps, Dearborn said.

Early in his career, Dearborn was a research editor with Encyclopedia Britannica and Playboy magazine.

“It was a good number of years ago,” Dearborn said about his job at Playboy. “I worked on civil rights concerning women” which should help with sexual harassment complaints, he said.

“I’m very pleased about his appointment,” said Affirmative Action Director Marilyn Monteiro. Dearborn will provide the department with good experience, she said.

Dearborn had previous experience as an equal opportunity specialist investigating complaints about race, color, national origin, age, gender and handicap. The position required him to be familiar with federal laws, interviewing witnesses, analyzing data, summarizing findings and negotiating settlements, he said.

Dearborn earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and completed his doctoral coursework in history at the U of I, Chicago campus.