In Review University Leadership Provost Position Is Restructured Peter Lennie is appointed provost and rob Clark is named interim senior VP for research. On June 14, the Board of Trustees ap- proved a restructuring of the provost’s position and two new appointments rec- ommended by President Joel Seligman fol- lowing Provost Ralph Kuncl’s appointment as president of the University of Redlands (see page 9). Peter Lennie, currently Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences & Engineering, will become pro- vost and dean of the faculty of AS&E, and Rob Clark, currently dean of the Edmund A. Hajim School of Engineering and Ap- plied Sciences, will become interim senior vice president for research, both appoint- ments effective with Kuncl’s departure, Seligman said. “This new structure will more effectively address the provost’s role in our decentral- ized university governance model as well PROVOST: Peter Lennie, who has led Arts, NEW VP: Rob Clark, dean of the Hajim as the ongoing expansion of the research Sciences & Engineering since 2006, will School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, side of the Office of the Provost,” Seligman become Rochester’s new provost. will become interim senior VP for research. said. “It will simplify and clarify responsi- bility, reduce an administrative level, and Deans Committee on Administrative Prac- In this new model, the deans of the achieve some synergies by combining the tices, and he will staff the Academic Affairs School of Arts & Sciences and of the Ha- provost’s academic functions and the posi- Committee of the Board of Trustees. jim School will assume responsibility that tion of dean of the faculty of Arts, Sciences “The definition of responsibilities rec- had rested with the dean of the faculty of & Engineering and by creating a senior vice ognizes that the redefined provost position AS&E for tenure, promotion, leave, and re- president to oversee the expanding respon- amplifies the position of dean of the faculty lated faculty issues in their schools as well sibilities for research.” of AS&E,” Seligman said. as for student appeals. As provost and Robert L. and Mary L. Schools outside of AS&E that currently The Office of Faculty Development and Sproull Dean of the Faculty of AS&E, Len- report to the provost on formal academic Diversity will continue to report to both the nie will oversee the School of Arts and Sci- issues such as tenure and promotion (in- president and provost. “This is a University ences, the Hajim School, the College, River cluding the Eastman School of Music, Si- priority and an area where I have a strong Campus Libraries, the Memorial Art Gal- mon School of Business, and Warner School personal commitment,” Seligman said. lery, the Office of University Graduate Stud- of Education) will continue to do so. Lennie has been dean of the faculty of ies, and the University of Rochester Press. The units will continue to report to the AS&E since 2006, when he returned to He will also have responsibility for re- president or president, provost, and se- Rochester after serving for seven years as accreditation, institutional research, Uni- nior vice president for administration and dean for science and a professor of neuro- versity Health Service, the University finance on budget, strategy, and facilities. science at NYU. He is a professor of brain Intercessors, the Deans Council, academ- The Medical Center CEO will continue to and cognitive sciences and during his previ- ic and multidisciplinary awards, and the report directly to the president. ous time at Rochester served as director of “This new structure will more effectively address the provost’s role in our decentralized university governance model as well as the ongoing expansion of the research side of the Office of the Provost.”—President Joel Seligman 8 ROCHESTER REVIEW July–August 2012 AdAm Fenster 3_RochRev_July2012_Review.indd 8 6/17/12 7:53 PM In RevIew the Center for Visual Science, dean of aca- demic resources and planning, and chair of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sci- ences. He received a PhD from the Univer- sity of Cambridge. As interim senior vice president for re- search, Clark will be responsible for the fastest growing segments of the current provost’s position, Seligman said. Those responsibilities include the Labo- ratory for Laser Energetics, sponsored re- search, including the Sponsored University Research Group, Office of Research Proj- ects Administration, University Informa- tion Technology, Health Science Center for Computational Innovation (HSCCI), Cen- ter for Entrepreneurship, Office of Research Alliances, Office of Human Subjects Pro- tection/Research Subjects Review Board, Office of Technology Transfer, online initia- tives, and staffing the Research and Inno- MR. & MRS. PRESIDENT: New University of Redlands President Ralph Kuncl and his wife, vation Committee of the Board of Trustees. Nancy, were introduced to the California university during an announcement this spring. “Rob Clark’s efforts to bridge between AcAdemic Officers University research and the corporate world through cross-school initiatives such as the TEAM program with Simon and the From Provost to President Center for Medical Technology Innovation with the School of Medicine and Dentistry r ochester’s chief academic officer ralph Kuncl made him a logical choice for the interim is named president of the University of redlands. senior vice president’s role,” Seligman said. “During Rob’s period as interim, I will A California university will start the authorship in the arts and sciences. expect him to make decisions as if he were 2012–13 academic year with a new chief ex- Kuncl achieved international distinction the permanent senior vice president,” Selig- ecutive who has helped guide Rochester for as a scientist and an administrator during man said. “We have time-sensitive projects the past five years. Ralph Kuncl, a neurol- more than 20 years at Johns Hopkins Uni- under way that should not be delayed, in- ogist and noted academic leader who has versity. While there, he and colleagues in cluding selection of a new director of Tech served as Rochester’s provost since 2007, his lab discovered the glutamate transport- Transfer, our IBM project (HSCCI), and was named president of the University of er defect in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, our online initiative.” Redlands this spring. commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Clark will continue as dean of the Hajim “Ralph has long been ready to assume disease. The discovery changed the field School while serving as interim senior vice a significant university presidency,” said and helped lead to the first effective treat- president for research. He has been dean President Joel Seligman. “The University of ment for the disease. He was also named since 2008, when he arrived from Duke Redlands is an exciting university on an up- the first vice provost for undergraduate ed- University, where he had served as senior ward trajectory, and all of us at Rochester ucation at Hopkins. associate dean and dean of the Pratt School are delighted that Ralph has been selected In 2002, he left Hopkins to become of Engineering. An expert in the science of to lead Redlands at this important time. We provost at Bryn Mawr College, where he acoustics and in bionanomanufacturing, he wish him every success.” helped create a variety of new interdisci- holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral de- As provost, Kuncl led or directed ini- plinary programs, diversified and hired a grees from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. tiatives in high-performance computing, third of its faculty, and nearly tripled the Lennie’s term will run through June 30, corporate research collaborations, multi- institution’s federal research grant support. 2016. There will be a national search for the disciplinary initiatives, diversity, and on- Kuncl received his undergraduate degree senior vice president for research when the line education. He also was responsible for at Occidental College in Los Angeles and academic year begins, Seligman said. review of University deans, the University his MD and PhD degrees from the Univer- “I have asked both Peter and Rob to be- library, faculty promotion and tenure de- sity of Chicago. An accomplished musician, gin the transition to their new positions cisions, sustainability, and faculty-driven Kuncl performed in the Baltimore Choral effective July 1 to ensure an overlap pe- learning assessment initiatives. And he cre- Arts Society, one of the most respected pro- riod with Ralph before Ralph departs for ated and led the annual Celebration of the fessional arts groups in the mid-Atlantic re- California,” he said. “I greatly appreci- Book, which brings faculty authors from gion. In Rochester, he has been a member of ate their willingness to assume these new across the University together to celebrate the Eastman Rochester Chorus.r responsibilities.”r and build community around their creative —Larry Arbeiter University of redlAnds July–August 2012 ROCHESTER REVIEW 9 3_RochRev_July2012_Review.indd 9 6/18/12 11:44 AM CommenCement 2012 Spring Celebration CLASSMATES: Members of the Class of 2012 begin the procession, marking the start of the University’s 162nd commencement ceremony for Arts, Sciences & Engineering. The 1,200 graduates were joined on the Eastman Quadrangle by 5,000 family, friends, and other well-wishers. Outgoing Brown University President Ruth Simmons addressed the graduates, noting that they had a burden to use their education to help others. “Your edu- cation benefits society only if you are a drum major for human dignity.” Brown, the Most Rev. Matthew Clark, bishop of Rochester, Pulitzer Prize–winning composer George Walker ’56E (DMA), U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, and Rochester business and civic leader Robert Hurlbut received honorary degrees at this spring’s ceremonies. See more at www.rochester.edu/commencement/2012.