Dear Members of the Barnard Community,
After 11 years of extraordinary service as Provost and Dean of the Faculty, Linda Bell has decided to step down from her administrative role when her current contract concludes at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year. Linda 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.
When Linda steps down at the end of the academic year, her years of service will be three times the median term for provosts nationwide. Linda has contributed so much to the Barnard community as our Provost, and she has been a wonderful partner these past three months as I have joined the Barnard community. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Linda this year and to celebrating her many accomplishments, which are too numerous to describe in just one email. I will emphasize some highlights for now, and we will celebrate all of Linda’s significant successes throughout the year.
Following a competitive national search, Linda joined Barnard in 2012 from Haverford College in Pennsylvania, where she served as Provost and the John B. Hurford Professor of Economics. Linda quickly became a champion for Barnard’s faculty and for the integrity and excellence of our academic programs, building on the College’s strong academic foundation by supporting faculty research and nurturing and growing an environment where scholarship and teaching thrive. Among other things, Linda:
- Led the charge to establish the Barnard Summer Research Institute (SRI) in 2014, which has since provided summer funding, subsidized campus housing, and supportive programming for over 1,300 students conducting STEM research under the guidance of faculty mentors and researchers from Barnard and throughout New York City.
- Inaugurated the Accelerated 4+1 Pathways Programs for graduate study in collaboration with Columbia, featuring new partnerships with the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) in Chemical, Biomedical, Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering; Computer Science; and Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, and with the Mailman School of Public Health with distinct Humanities, Social Science, and Natural Science tracks.
- Oversaw the development and implementation of Barnard’s Foundations curriculum, which replaced the Nine Ways of Knowing in 2016 and added depth, breadth, and flexibility to our students’ courses of study.
- Collaborated with faculty members in multiple disciplines to facilitate the establishment of five new academic departments and programs: Africana Studies, American Studies, Computer Science, Cognitive Science, and Neuroscience.
- Established six new academic centers at Barnard: the Digital Humanities Center, our Movement Lab, the Design Center, our Sloate Media Center, the Vagelos Computational Science Center, and the Center for Engaged Pedagogy (CEP).
- Worked tirelessly with the CEP, Barnard faculty, and Columbia to ensure a robust and innovative response to the challenges of the pandemic, including introducing innovative new course offerings, new modalities of teaching, and strong support programs for ensuring effective pedagogy despite the challenges of remote
- Led the academic planning components of the Cheryl & Philip Milstein Center for Teaching & Learning, ensured Barnard’s successful re-accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in 2022, and has helped lead our current planning for the Roy and Diana Vagelos Science Center.
Linda’s devotion to the Barnard community has been strikingly apparent during all of these endeavors and throughout her many efforts to strengthen our academic excellence. I know we are all grateful for what Linda has accomplished as Provost and for all that she will continue to accomplish over the course of this new academic year.
We will soon begin a nationwide search for our next Provost and Dean of the Faculty, and I will constitute a faculty-led committee to conduct the search. My goal is to compose a diverse committee whose members bring broad perspectives and experiences and a deep appreciation for Barnard to this important task.
I welcome nominations of faculty, staff, and students to serve on the committee. If you are interested in serving on the committee or wish to submit a nomination of a colleague, please submit your nomination here by September 25. I will announce and charge the committee by the beginning of October. Spencer Stuart, a national search firm, will support the committee throughout the process.
We will have time later in the academic year to celebrate Linda and all her varied contributions to Barnard. For now, please join me in congratulating Linda for her many years of collaborative leadership and extraordinary service. She has been a truly remarkable Provost and Dean of the Faculty.
Very truly yours,
Laura Rosenbury
President