When Veterinary School Dean Phillip Kosch came to Tufts in 1996, Provost Sol Gittleman approached him in front of the Ballou elevator, shook his hand, and said that he would be "the best boss you've ever had."
Five years later, Kosch says Gittleman was right.
Kosch is one of countless administrators, faculty, staff, and students who, in the wake of Gittleman's resignation as provost, lament the University's impending loss of Tufts' second-in-command. During his 37-year career at Tufts, Gittleman became a permanent and prominent fixture on the Hill and in Ballou. Voices from every sector of the Tufts community praise his innovation, accessibility, and enthusiasm.
While students and faculty know Gittleman through his work with undergraduates, administrators revere the provost for his efforts to bring together Tufts' seven schools during his tenure as the University's chief academic officer.
"He's a real advocate of interdisciplinary activity," President Emeritus John DiBiaggio said yesterday. "There's no academic program in the University that he hasn't had some impact on."
"The establishment and maturation of the veterinary school would not have happened without him," said Kosch, who runs the veterinary program Tufts established in 1979. "Through his strength of personality and by working with the deans, he has brought the schools together."
As an administrator, Gittleman is respected for his knowledge of Tufts and its history as well as his commitment to the University. Gittleman understands "the pulse of the institution at the grassroots level," DiBiaggio said. Other administrators characterize him as easy to work with, caring, and accessible.
"His style of management was to let people do their thing and to intervene when problems come up," Dean of the Colleges Charles Inouye said.
Every administrator has a favorite Gittleman story. DiBiaggio, for instance, recalls sitting in his office and listening to the provost type on the electric typewriter he refuses to give up.
Executive Vice President Steven Manos said that Gittleman once threatened to beat him up if he did something wrong. Dean of Engineering Ioannis Miaoulis has known the provost since he was a Tufts freshman, when Gittleman supervised him in a program that allowed undergraduates to instruct each other in foreign languages not offered at Tufts.
"Sol is one of the most beloved administrators I know from any university," said Miaoulis, who will soon move into Gittleman's office to serve as associate provost.
Gittleman's commitment to teaching while serving as an administrator helped him keep the respect of the faculty. The provost's enthusiasm for teaching never waned and until today, he says he still gets nervous before starting a lecture.
"Unlike other administrators who have parachuted in from elsewhere, he was one of us," history department chair Howard Malchow said. "He was a teacher before he was an administrator and that's why a lot of people relate to him."
When history Professor Leila Fawaz came to Tufts, Gittleman was a German language professor and served as Fawaz' mentor. Years later, Fawaz taught a class in Cabot Auditorium that ended before a Gittleman course, and she often stayed to listen to his lectures.
"He galvanized students, and he cared deeply about them, and never stopped doing so all through his provostship," Fawaz said.
"There are very few people who go into administration and will continue teaching as much as he did," said German Professor Christiane Zehl Romero, who served as chair of the German and Russian (which is now called the German, Russian, and Asian) Languages department when Gittleman left the post to become provost. "I really admire that he never got jaded."
The provost is known for his open-mindedness and innovation, both in the classroom and as an administrator. When the administration was unsure of how to start programs in Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic, Fawaz recalls that Gittleman came up with the solution to include them in his former department.
In his teaching, Gittleman has impressed students by the breadth of material he incorporates in his courses. Senior Dan Wolman, who took Gittleman's "Introduction to Yiddish Literature" course two years ago, was impressed with how the provost related class material about one minority group to other American minority groups so that everyone in the class could identify.
Freshman Jessica Angerson said that her current class with Gittleman, "Writing about Baseball," covers everything from World War II, immigration, and the Crusades to baseball trivia. "It's amazing to sit there and watch him be so enthusiastic and so into what he's teaching," Angerson said.
As both an administrator and teacher, Gittleman is well-known for his open door policy. In Wolman's class, the provost encouraged the more than 100 students to visit him in his office and he "almost seemed uncomfortable with the big classroom setting," Wolman said.
Few faculty and students have anything negative to say about the provost. The best evaluation of the atmosphere an administrator inspires comes from looking at his staff, Fawaz said and on the second floor of Ballou, Gittleman is regarded as a down-to-earth person who makes his own photocopies and often rushes to grab the phone before his secretary can answer.
"He doesn't like to bother anyone," said Gittleman's staff assistant Carol Mazza, who has worked for the last three University provosts. Mazza says she has been astounded by Gittleman's ability to handle problems and said she has never seen him lose his cool.
"He's a wonderful boss," said Associate Provost for Research Peggy Newell, who has worked at Tufts since 1982. "I've heard him described as the heart and soul of Tufts University and in many respects I think that's true."
Gittleman's impact on students is long-lasting, according to Miaoulis, who meets alumni as part of his role as the dean of engineering. "It's amazing how many of them bring up Sol Gittleman and how huge an impact he made in their lives," he said.
Though administrators say the search for a new provost will only take a year, many community members feel that Gittleman is irreplaceable. "Sol is unique and I think he's left a special mark on the provost's office and on Tufts," said Manos, who started as executive vice president the same day that Gittleman became Provost - July 1, 1981.
While some, like DiBiaggio, feel that life in Ballou will go on without Gittleman, others fear the loss of an administrator with such a good perspective will be apparent.
"He's the only person in Ballou with a background in humanities," Romero said. "When he leaves, I'm concerned that those areas won't be represented in Ballou."
