Dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy Eileen Kennedy last month announced plans to pursue a yearlong sabbatical beginning next June.
Kennedy, now in her seventh year as dean, will conduct research during her sabbatical with the Nutrition Collaborative Research Support Project (CRSP). She will return as a professor at the Friedman School in Sept. 2012.
During her sabbatical, Kennedy will be a co-principal investigator for the CRSP, part of a $15 million grant to the Friedman School from the United States Agency for International Development.
"It's been an ongoing decision, and a series of unrelated events have influenced this decision," Kennedy said in an interview yesterday. "I allocated 40 percent of my time to my role as co-principal investigator, and I simply can't continue to both."
"It's a great time to pass the baton. Tufts has been wonderful to grant me this sabbatical," Kennedy said.
Kennedy will conduct research for the CRSP in the areas of agriculture, health, and nutrition in Africa and Asia during her sabbatical, she said. She also intends to co-author a book entitled "Fundamentals of Nutrition Policy."
As dean, Kennedy oversaw many advances at the Friedman School. Under Kennedy's leadership, the school launched in 2005 a Strategic Plan aimed at stabilizing the budget and supporting innovative research, according to Kennedy.
In 2007, the Friedman School pioneered a joint research project with the government of Ras al-Khaimah, United Arab Emirates to forge a Masters program aimed at addressing nutritional concerns in North Africa, South Asia and the Middle East.
Kennedy also oversaw the development of the Friedman School's portion of the Beyond Boundaries capital campaign. The school has raised over $61 million to put toward scholarships, professorships, and research, according to a statement Kennedy issued in November.
The campaign has raised over $8 million for student financial aid and increased the Friedman School endowment by 50 percent, according to the statement.
Kennedy helped establish the Department of Nutrition Science and the Department of Food and Nutrition Policy within the Friedman School.
"By forming departments, we are seeing faculty members working together, and there is a lot more that is able to be discussed in a very lively back-and-forth," Kennedy said.
Friedman School Associate Professor Daniel Maxwell, who also chairs the school's Department of Food and Nutrition Policy, praised the decision to separate the departments.
"She has promoted faculty collaboration both within and beyond the school," Maxwell said. "We presume that a new dean will promote a similar interdisciplinary approach to research."
Bharucha agreed. "Before Eileen's work, there were no departments, just a faculty," he said.
Bharucha elaborated on Kennedy's accomplishments as dean. "Securing the national reputation and foundation of the school and pioneering the Ras al-Khaimah collaboration are just a couple of Kennedy's incredible contributions to the school," he said.
Kennedy's tenure has not been without controversy, however. She was criticized last fall for acting as the president of the Smart Choices Board of Directors.
The program evaluated food products and placed a Smart Choices logo and nutritional information on the packaging of products it deemed healthy, but drew criticism both for being funded by the food companies whose products it evaluated and for placing the Smart Choices label on products such as Lucky Charms and Frosted Flakes.
At the time, Kennedy defended the program, noting that it based its criteria on governmental dietary guidelines and scientific consensus and that the program was intended to be an improvement over nonstandardized food rating methods.
Smart Choices voluntarily suspended operations late last year after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it planned to create an industry standard food labeling system.
Bharucha is currently assembling an advisory committee to find a new dean, he said. The advisory committee will be comprised of faculty from the Friedman School and members of the Tufts faculty who conduct nutrition research, according to Bharucha.
The advisory committee will hold its first meeting before the winter break and expect to fill the position by July 1, 2011, Bharucha said.
Bharucha said the transition provides a chance for institutional self-evaluation. "When there is change in deanship, there is an opportunity to step back and look at challenges facing the institution. The advising committee will aid in finding those challenges and finding a dean who can address them," Bharucha said.
Kennedy said she will not play a part in the search process. "I will have no role in selecting the new dean," said Kennedy. "I don't want to be looking over the advisory committee shoulder as they select a new official. It's important that the process moves forward."
"We are looking for someone highly collaborative, innovative and a leader who will help us advance. He or she will have a global perspective and understand that nutrition is an extremely important factor in our country and in the world," Bharucha said.
