Committee to search for Rackham dean

Updated 11:45 PM January 7, 2005

Committee to search for Rackham dean

A search soon will be underway for a dean for the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies and vice provost for academic affairs-graduate studies. Francis X. Blouin Jr., director of the Bentley Historical Library and professor of information and history, will serve as chair of the committee that will conduct a national search for a dean to replace Earl Lewis, who left in July to become provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Emory University in Atlanta.

Steven Kunkel, Endowed Professor of Pathology Research, has been serving since June as interim dean and interim vice provost for academic affairs-graduate studies, and doing an outstanding job, Provost Paul N. Courant says.

"This is an important role—one that requires energy and creativity in bringing together faculty, researchers and students from some 130 programs across the University," Courant says. "The future leader of the graduate school should be one who is a committed to excellence and diversity in graduate education, and who can further Michigan's strong traditions of interdisciplinary and collaborative research and study."

Other committee members are: Maia I. Bergman, senior research associate at Rackham; Rebecca M. Blank, dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, professor of public policy at the Ford School and of economics at LSA; Ayesha Hardison, graduate student at Rackham;

James S. Jackson, director of the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, Daniel Katz Distinguished University Professor of Psychology, professor of health behavior & health education, and director of the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Institute for Social Research; William M. Keyserling, professor of environmental health sciences at the School of Public Health and professor of industrial and operations engineering at the College of Engineering;

Charlotte M. Mistretta, William R. Mann Professor of Dentistry and professor of biologic and materials science; Charlotte A. Otto, associate provost for academic affairs, chair of the College of Arts, Sciences and Letters, and professor and chair of the Natural Science Department at U-M-Dearborn; Anish Sharad Parikh, graduate student research assistant in aerospace engineering; Terry E. Robinson, Elliot S. Valenstein Collegiate Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology;

Sonya O. Rose, chair and Natalie Zemon Davis Collegiate Professor of History, Sociology and Women's Studies; William E. Savage, director, UMI Dissertations Publishing, a division of ProQuest Information and Learning; William L. Smith, professor and chair, Department of Biological Chemistry; Louis K. Stein, professor of music (musicology); Jens C. Zorn, professor of physics in LSA.

The committee soon will hold its first meeting. Courant will ask members to report back during the winter semester.

Committee to search for Rackham dean

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