Gross Names Associate Deans

Incoming Dean of Harvard College Benedict H. Gross ’71 announced this week the line-up of administrators who will serve under him as assistant and associate deans, delegating to several University Hall veterans oversight over many aspects of House and student life that previous deans took on personally.

The new structure was necessitated by a reorganization of the College administration that for the first time combines oversight of students’ academic and non-academic lives under one dean—Gross.

Gross, who served as dean of undergraduate education for the last year, will succeed outgoing Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 next week but retain his current role as leader of an ongoing review of the curriculum.

Since his appointment in April, Gross has said that he would need to delegate more to handle what was once two jobs, a prediction borne out in this week’s announcements.

“There will be more managerial work,” Gross said in an interview. “[Each dean will have] a little more oversight so that I can find out more about what’s going on in individual aspects of the College.”

Gross has dismissed concerns that the restructuring will distance him from the workings of the College, saying instead that it will make him effective and responsive to student concerns.

Wide swaths of the College’s bureaucracy will report to one of four associate deans who will in turn report to Gross. While three out of the four sub-deans held similar positions in the old administration, at least two of their jobs will expand significantly. A number of other administrators will also be elevated to the dean’s senior staff—as either assistant deans or senior advisors—and their portfolios thickened.

Gross and other administrators interviewed this week emphasized his desire to keep a strong focus on curricular review, which has until now been his signature project. “I [will] have more time to work with the Faculty on curricular review,” Gross said.

According to Gross’ announcement e-mail, Thomas Dingman, an associate dean of the College who worked with Lewis to oversee House life, will now take on new responsibilities ranging from serving as the College’s “liaison” to undergraduate athletics to taking reports from the secretary of the College’s Administrative Board, two tasks that Lewis oversaw himself.

“There are fewer direct reports to the dean of the College,” Dingman said. “That’s necessary, given how much the dean of the college will have on his plate.”

Echoing other administrators named to newly-expanded posts this week, Dingman called the new structure an “experiment” and emphasized the magnitude of the new deanship Gross will assume.

“He will have so much on his plate that even though he is interested in providing students with good access to him, we will have to be aggressive in reaching out to the undergraduates,” Dingman said. “Students need to feel represented.”

Another expanded associated deanship in the newly-announced structure is the one into which current Director of Philips Brooks House Judith H. Kidd will step on a temporary basis. Kidd’s post combines her old job, several tasks Lewis oversaw himself, and the post held by David P. Illingworth ’71, an associate dean who announced this month that he is stepping down (see related story, above).

Kidd will continue to oversee the Philips Brooks House (PBH), but will also be the primary administrative liaison to the College’s approximately 260 student groups, chair the Committee on College Life (CCL) and oversee the Harvard Foundation on Race Relations.

“I’m going to keep my office in PBH, but also have one in University Hall,” Kidd said. “That part will probably be hardest for me. I’m going to learn how to retrieve e-mails on the run.”

The rest of Gross’s senior administration will be filled out by familiar University Hall faces. Georgene B. Herschbach will continue to oversee College finances as the associate dean in charge of finance and administration.

Jeffrey D. Wolcowitz will continue in his post as associate dean for undergraduate education.

Elizabeth S. Nathans will continue to serve as dean for freshman and the College’s point person with University Health Services, and will pick up leadership of the College’s Crisis Response Team.

Elizabeth Doherty, currently the director of freshman seminars and assistant dean of the faculty for academic planning, will be special assistant to the Gross, charged with organizing senior staff meetings and serving as the College’s “point of contact” with the University’s central administration.

“Some people will be wearing two hats next year,” said Gross, who said he has been pondering these changes since April.

“I think the fact that all senior staff working under one roof is good—we have to consider house life, academics, extracurriculars...so why not put it all under one roof so people can talk to one another?” Gross said.

—Staff writer Rebecca D. O’Brien contributed to the reporting of this story.