McAuliffe Named President of Bryn Mawr College

[hoyaLS05]

thehoya.com/node/15314
thehoya.com/blog/14

[hilltopper2000]

Nice move for her (and I suppose quite a validation of her as a GU administator). I hope we can get someone with a solid background in fundraising and program-building to fill the slot. It would be interesting to see the short list.

Do any of the academics have any reflections on this? CWS? Reformation?

[DFW HOYA]

So is this the time a Jesuit returns to the College Dean's office?

[Jack]

Where would they find one? The only ones who could possibly be qualified are already presidents at lesser Jesuit schools. Maher's picked up some quality administrative experience, but he doesn't have anywhere near the scholarship someone like McAuliffe brought to the table. Other than him there are no internal Jesuit candidates I can think of, the rest having been picked off for bigger jobs elsewhere (Wildes, Pilarz, etc.).

[sead43]

current students received this e-mail this evening:

February 8, 2008

Dear Members of the Georgetown Community:

With great appreciation for her leadership and dedication to Georgetown I write to inform you that earlier today the Trustees of Bryn Mawr College named Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Dean of Georgetown College, to be their next President, effective July 1. I know that many of you share my view that Georgetown’s loss is undoubtedly Bryn Mawr’s gain. Jane’s deep personal interest in fostering educational opportunities for women, based on her own experiences attending Trinity College and Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, makes the opportunity for her to lead Bryn Mawr particularly meaningful.

In her 9 years as Dean of Georgetown College, Jane has become a trusted friend and colleague. She is not only an accomplished scholar but also a successful administrator and dedicated campus leader. She has played a critical role in Georgetown’s efforts to advance interreligious understanding and found the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, increase endowed faculty positions and student scholarships, build facilities including the Royden B. Davis Performing Arts Center and develop plans for a new science center, and expand undergraduate and graduate programs in a range of disciplines.

Her many accomplishments as Dean have deeply benefited the University community and will leave a lasting legacy on our faculty and students. As an internationally known scholar of Islamic studies, Jane has published extensively on early Islamic history and the multiple relations between Islam and Christianity. In 2004, she served as president of the American Academy of Religion and in 2007 was elected to the American Philosophical Society. She has been a tremendous resource for our community as we have worked together to foster interreligious dialogue on campus and around the world and I am deeply grateful for the opportunities we’ve had to engage her expertise, including the International Prayer for Peace, the Building Bridges Conference with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and numerous other occasions.

Jane’s husband, Dennis, a scholar of medieval Italian literature, who has been an instrumental member of our community in his own right, will also join the faculty of Bryn Mawr College. I look forward to being with many of you in person over the next several months as we find ways to celebrate and thank them for their many contributions to Georgetown.

In the coming weeks I will work with Provost O’Donnell to organize a formal search process for Jane’s successor and we will keep you informed of those developments. In the meantime, please join me in congratulating Jane and Dennis on their many collective accomplishments.

Sincerely,

John J. DeGioia

[happyhoya1979]

With Georgetown alumni as the Presidents of MIT, Barnard and the University of Illinois, and an administrator as President of Bryn Mawr, we should rocket up in the peer ratings of US News and World Report. Our own people, are now in a position to bring us up to where we should be.

[Jack]

Prof. Chet Gillis named interim Dean, with a national search for the full time replacement expected to take up to a year, per The Hoya:
www.thehoya.com/node/15688

I never had Gillis for class, but I have been impressed with him in conversation and in his writing about Catholicisim in America. I have no idea what he brings to the table as an administrator though.

[EasyEd]

Need someone who is a tactful, soft-spoken diplomat. Someone like RDF. No, I didn't say that, RDF.