Dean of Arts and Sciences Joanne Berger-Sweeney will step down on June 30 to become the president of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. A graduate and former associate dean of Wellesley College, Berger-Sweeney began her current role at Tufts in 2010.
While I am excited to begin this next chapter in my career, my announcement is tinged with sadness that my affiliation with Tufts is ending, Berger-Sweeney wrote in a March 27 email to the Tufts community. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Tufts and will cherish the relationships I have formed and people I have met here.
In looking for a replacement, Tufts administrators will appoint a committee of students, staff and faculty that will search internationally to find a new dean. The process will likely not be complete until July 1, 2015, Provost David Harris explained.
The way these things work, the cycle of academics, it's unlikely we will have a new dean in place before Jan. 1, he said. The search takes a while and then these folks are doing things so they can't come the next day.
Until that time, an interim dean, to be announced in the next few weeks, will lead the School of Arts and Sciences, Harris said.
The Trinity College Board of Trustees unanimously voted for Berger-Sweeney's appointment on Tuesday. Shortly after, Berger-Sweeney alerted Tufts administrators about her departure a little before announcing it to the university community, Harris said.
Harris praised Berger-Sweeney's contributions to the School of Arts and Sciences, which range from interdisciplinary hires to the creation of new major and minor programs.
Joanne has been a tireless proponent of diversity and inclusion, Harris said. If you look at the hires that have been made, if you look at what's happened in terms of the curriculum, it has really been a passion of hers.
Berger-Sweeney will become the schools first African American and the first female president when she assumes her new position on July 1, according to a March 27 announcement from Trinity College. She was in Connecticut yesterday to meet with members of the Trinity community. Trinity, like Tufts, is a member of the NESCAC.
She has proven herself in areas that coincide closely with, and are important to, Trinity, Trinity's Presidential Search Committee chair Cornelia Parsons Thornburgh said in the schools March 27 announcement. I strongly believe that her vision of Trinity College as an 'elite liberal arts college with an urban pulse' is one that will guide us, inspire us, and lead us on a path to distinction and greatness.
