Carol Fierke—Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs—announced the launch of the search for a new Dean of Arts and Sciences, in an email to community members on Oct. 25. The position will be left vacant in June 2023 and will need to be filled.
The search committee has been formed to find a replacement for Dorothy Hodgson, Dean of Arts and Sciences, who announced she would not be renewing her position in April 2022, according to a previous Brandeis Hoot article.
Hodgson is responsible for overseeing “the academic life of all [Brandeis] undergraduate students and the faculty who teach them, as well as the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences,” according to an email sent by Fierke in Spring 2022.
The search committee will be chaired by Issac Krauss (CHEM) and Harleen Singh (GRALL, WGS), according to Fierke’s email. The other arts and sciences faculty on the search committee are Sheida Soleimani (FA), Eugene Sheppard (NEJS), Piali Sengupta (BIOL), Linda Bui (ECON, IBS), Sara Shostak (SOC, HSSP) and Rebecca Torrey (MATH).
The committee will also feature Maria Madison, the interim Heller School Dean and Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Lee Bitsóí. According to the email there will be an alumni representative, Lewis Brooks, and a graduate student representative, Víkko Suárez.
In addition to these stakeholders, there will be an undergraduate advisory committee formed with representatives from student government and other areas of student life who can meet candidates for the position and provide feedback from a student perspective, Fierke included in the email.
To fill the position, the university has hired Spencer Stuart, a consulting firm that helps provide insight and informed decisions before hiring leadership positions, according to their website. The firm will be meeting with the committee as well with other individuals and groups, according to Fierke’s email. The firm will hear thoughts on potential challenges and opportunities they will deal with in the selection process for Hodgson’s successor as Dean of Arts and Sciences.
“If there are candidates that you think would be particularly well suited for this position, I would encourage you to send a note to the chairs of the search committee,” Fierke wrote in the email.
Hodgson joined the university in 2018, according to a previous Brandeis Hoot article. In her time at Brandeis, Hodgson has been a part of the creation of the engineering major set to launch no later than 2026 and has helped move Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies from a program to a department, according to a previous Hoot article.
