The Search for a Successor Begins

The departure of Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Jeremy R. Knowles, leaves University President Lawrence H. Summers with a big pair of wingtips to fill.

In the five-month limbo before the resignation takes effect, President Summers is expected to pick Knowles’ successor from within FAS, although Faculty and administrators said as of now there are no clear contenders.

Knowles said yesterday he expects Summers to appoint his successor by the end of the academic year.

“Identifying a successor to Dean Knowles will obviously be a matter of high priority,” Summers said in a statement yesterday. “I will want to consult carefully as the process unfolds, and will be in further touch about this important search in the time ahead.”

Historically, however, the dean search has moved more slowly. Former University President Derek C. Bok spent nine months searching for a new dean, and it took 18 months for former President Nathan M. Pusey ’28 to select a new dean.

Knowles said yesterday that if Summers were for some reason unable to select a new dean by June, he would continue to serve until a suitable successor could be found.

“After 11 years, I care much too much about the well-being of the Faculty to imagine leaving precipitately,” Knowles said in an e-mail.

The Successor

There is no typical path for a professor to climb to the head of the Faculty.

Former FAS deans have come to the position with a variety of backgrounds—while some have served as department chairs, others have risen to the deanship straight from the rank and file of the Faculty.

Knowles was preceded by three economists: Lamont University Professor and former U.S. Secretary of Labor John T. Dunlop, Guyser University Professor Emeritus Henry A. Rosovsky, and former Chair of the Economics Department A. Michael Spence.

Knowles was the first scientist to serve in the post of dean of the Faculty.

With Summers’ background in the social sciences and his selection of a scientist as Provost, some Faculty members say he might turn to a humanist to provide balance.

Others, however, argue that the experience and character of the candidate will be the most important criteria.

“More important than the field is the qualities of the individual, and of course there are individuals who bridge the disciplines,” Associate Dean for Faculty Development Laura Fisher said.

Faculty members said the new dean should devote equal attention and resources to all fields.

“[Knowles] seemed distinctly fair in his care for all three branches, humanities, science, social science,...so that I always felt safe in his care for the whole of the Faculty,” said Porter University Professor Helen Vendler.

—Staff writer Kate L. Rakoczy can be reached at rakoczy@fas.harvard.edu.