Announcement of the Search Advisory Committee for the Dean of the BU College of Arts & Sciences
From Dr. Jean Morrison, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer
As we begin the process of selecting the next Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, the first step is to constitute the Search Advisory Committee. The BU Faculty Handbook specifies that: “the advisory committee shall consist of three faculty members elected by the faculty of the School for which a dean is to be selected, two faculty members elected by the Faculty Council from other Schools, and as many as three members designated by the provost.” In addition, the provost appoints the Chair of the committee.
I am pleased to announce that we have completed this initial step, and the membership of the Search Advisory Committee for the Dean of the Boston University College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) is listed at the end of this memo. I thank the CAS Faculty and the University’s Faculty Council for their efforts to elect members to serve on this critical committee. I would also like to thank, in advance, the members of the Search Advisory Committee for their service, and give special acknowledgement to Professor Nancy Ammerman, who has agreed to serve as Chair.
In order to facilitate the work of the committee, I have engaged the services of Witt/Kieffer, a leading higher education executive search firm. Lucy Leske and Dr. Katherine Haley, who both have extensive experience in searches for academic deans, will assist with this effort.
The charge to the Search Advisory Committee and the process by which it should conduct its work is outlined in my memo of September 15. I will soon convene the Committee to provide them with further specifics of their charge, with the expectation that they will immediately begin the work of consulting with faculty and relevant stakeholders, soliciting nominations, recruiting outstanding candidates, and evaluating the qualifications and strengths of nominees and applicants. I will ask the Search Advisory Committee to forward the names of 3-5 qualified candidates to me by April 13, 2015 for final selection of the Dean by President Brown and approval by the Board of Trustees.
The selection of a new dean is among the most important decisions we make. I look forward to working with the Search Advisory Committee to identify and recruit an outstanding faculty leader to serve as the next Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.
Search Advisory Committee for the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences
Nancy Ammerman, Search Advisory Committee Chair, Professor of Sociology of Religion, College of Arts & Sciences and School of Theology
Judith Chaffee, Associate Professor, School of Theatre, College of Fine Arts
Juliet Floyd, Professor of Philosophy, College of Arts & Sciences
Walter Fluker, Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Ethical Leadership, Philosophy, Theology & Ethics, School of Theology
David Harris, Department Chair and Professor of Biochemistry, School of Medicine
Kenneth Lutchen, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Dean, College of Engineering
David Mayers, Professor of History and Political Science, College of Arts & Sciences
Stan Sclaroff, Professor of Computer Science, College of Arts & Sciences