March 7, 2022
To: FAS and SEAS Faculty
cc: FAS Dean’s Office, FAS Steering, President’s Office, Provost’s Office
[Summary: This message announces the search, and requests nominations, for the new FAS Dean of Science.]
Dear Colleagues in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) (including SEAS),
As you know from the February 22 memo from Peter Salovey and Scott Strobel, Jeff Brock will be stepping down from his role as FAS Dean of Science on June 30, 2022 to assume full-time responsibility for the School of Engineering and Applied Science; we are therefore seeking a new FAS Dean of Science to begin in the 2022-23 academic year.
Below is some information about the search process, and a brief description of the role.
Search process
To inform the selection of the new FAS Dean of Science, I have appointed an advisory committee composed of the faculty below. This list was composed in consultation with the FAS Faculty Senate and other FAS faculty leaders.
- Scott Miller, Committee Chair: Irénée du Pont Professor of Chemistry, FAS
- Ruth Blake: Professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences, FAS
- Ron Breaker: Sterling Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, FAS
- Deborah Coen: Professor of History; Chair of the History of Science & Medicine Program, FAS
- Erika Edwards: Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, FAS
- Meg Urry: Israel Munson Professor of Physics, FAS
- Lisa Turner, Staff: Senior Administrative Assistant, Office of the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
I have asked this committee to consider as potential candidates for the role of FAS Dean of Science current full professors in the FAS (including SEAS), and to provide me with a list of promising candidates, and a sense of their strengths and challenges, by the end of March.
If you are interested in being considered for this position, I encourage you to reach out to Professor Miller to let him know.
Role and responsibilities
- The FAS Dean of Science oversees the day-to-day well-being and mid- and long-term planning of the departments in the FAS Division of Science: Astronomy, Chemistry, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics, as well as Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. The FAS Dean of Science will coordinate efforts between and among these departments. For each of these units, they oversee faculty hiring plans, hiring processes, offers, recruitments, retentions, and use of Science Development Funds, as well as faculty lifecycle issues including promotion, tenure, and retirement. They lead, with the Dean of the FAS (and, as relevant, the Dean of the Medical School and the Dean of SEAS), the relevant tenure appointments and promotions committees (TACBS and PSETAC).
- The FAS Dean of Science sits on the major FAS committees, including FAS Steering (which oversees matters of FAS policy) and the Faculty Resource Committee (which oversees the allocation of FAS faculty searches). Together with the FAS Deans of Humanities, Social Science, and Diversity and Faculty Development, they meet regularly with the Dean of the FAS to coordinate FAS-wide goals, strategies, policies, and practices.
A more detailed description of the role and its responsibilities can be found in the attached document.
I look forward to working with all of you to identify appropriate candidates for this important role.
Best,
Tamar
Tamar Szabó Gendler
Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy
Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science