Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs C. Cybele Raver has appointed a committee to conduct a national search for the next dean of Vanderbilt University’s College of Arts and Science.
“As Vanderbilt’s largest academic unit, the College of Arts and Science is core to Vanderbilt’s intellectual, pedagogical and research objectives,” Raver said. “I trust the search committee to yield an exceptionally strong slate of finalists who offer inspiring vision for A&S and who have a strong track record of collaboration and effectiveness as university leaders.”
The search committee will search for a successor to John Geer, Ginny and Conner Searcy Dean of the College of Arts and Science, who will wrap up a five-year term at the end of June and begin serving as senior advisor to Chancellor Daniel Diermeier. The college will be led in an interim capacity by Timothy P. McNamara, who holds the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Social and Natural Sciences and is a trusted peer and mentor to many in the Vanderbilt community.
The search committee consists of a range of faculty from Arts and Science and collaborating colleges, as well as non-faculty peers. Camilla P. Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt Peabody College, will serve as chair of the committee.
The College of Arts and Science Dean Search Committee members are:
- Camilla Benbow, chair, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development
- Major Jackson, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English and director of creative writing
- John Kuriyan, dean of the School of Medicine, Basic Sciences, and University Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry
- Robert Levy, member, Vanderbilt University Board of Trust
- Adriana Norris, Class of 2024, College of Arts and Science
- Stephanie Oberhausen, associate vice chancellor and chief development officer, Development and Alumni Relations
- Antonis Rokas, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Biological Sciences and associate professor of biomedical informatics
- Ganesh Sitaraman, New York Alumni Chancellor’s Chair and professor of law
- Eric Skaar, Ernest W. Goodpasture Professor in Pathology, and University Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences and of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
- Kim Welch, associate professor of history and assistant professor of law
- Elizabeth Zechmeister, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science, associate provost in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, director of LAPOP
- Tracey George, ex officio, vice provost for faculty affairs and professional education
Isaacson, Miller, a leading executive search firm with extensive experience in the liberal arts, will support the committee, which is charged with identifying top candidates for deeper review during the fall 2023 semester. A new dean will be selected in early 2024. For questions about the search committee or process, please email the Office of Faculty Affairs and Professional Education at facultyaffairs@vanderbilt.edu.