Linda A. Bell to Step Down

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After more than a decade of extraordinary service as Provost and Dean of the Faculty, Linda A. Bell will step down from her role at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year to return to her award-winning research as an economist and as a member of the Barnard faculty. Provost Bell leaves behind a long list of accomplishments, as she championed faculty and enhanced the integrity of the College’s academic programs in partnership with three presidents — President Debora Spar, who recruited Bell in 2012 from Haverford College in Pennsylvania, where she served as provost and the John B. Hurford Professor of Economics; President Sian Leah Beilock; and President Laura Rosenbury.

Among Provost Bell’s many achievements, she led the charge in 2014 to establish Barnard’s Summer Research Institute (SRI), which provides funding, subsidized housing, and supportive programming for 1,400 students conducting STEM research under the guidance of a faculty mentor; she launched the Center for Engaged Pedagogy (CEP) to strengthen Barnard’s deep academic engagement and support for student and community well-being; and she was instrumental in the launch of the Accelerated 4+1 Pathways for graduate study in cooperation with Columbia University, featuring new alliances with the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and with the Mailman School of Public Health.

In addition, she was a key player in the design and programming of the College’s academic hub, the Cheryl and Philip Milstein Center for Teaching and Learning, and led the College through its successful reaccreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in 2022.

“Linda has been a wonderful partner these past three months, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with her this year,” says President Rosenbury. “We will celebrate Linda’s many accomplishments later this year. It is so impressive to realize that when she steps down, her 12 years of service will be three times the median term for provosts nationwide. She has contributed so much to the Barnard community.”

“It has been a privilege and an honor to lead this extraordinary faculty and to work closely with so many committed colleagues on senior staff, in the Provost’s Office, and throughout the College to advance the mission of the College on behalf of our incredible students,” says Provost Bell. “While I look forward to returning to research and teaching, I will surely miss the collaborations and friendships that have been cultivated and nourished across this amazing community.”

The College will soon begin a nationwide search for its next Provost and Dean of the Faculty, and Provost Bell will stay in her administrative role through the 2023-2024 academic year. She will remain at Barnard to resume her award-winning research as an economist and, after a well-earned sabbatical, will also teach as a member of the Barnard faculty.