Dean of the Faculty Rajiv Vohra P'07 will step down from his position at the end of June, President Ruth Simmons and Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98 wrote in an email to the faculty yesterday.
Vohra, who will resume his position as professor of economics, said he decided to step down because he has held the administrative post for seven years. Administrative positions generally have a "fixed-time horizon," he said. Vohra has worked at Brown since 1983 and served as dean of the faculty since 2004.
"It just seemed like the right time for me to go back to research and teaching," Vohra said.
Vohra's decision to step down was not influenced by Kertzer's departure from the administration, also scheduled for June 30, he said.
Kertzer will head a search committee for a new dean of the faculty. The committee, which will comprise faculty members from various departments, plans to find Vohra's successor within the University. Vohra said he does not know when a new dean will be selected, though administrators hope to have one in place by July 1.
Mark Schlissel, who will replace Kertzer as provost in July, said he was "surprised" by the announcement. Schlissel is not technically part of the search committee, since the search will start before his term begins. But he said he hopes to come to campus once Simmons and the committee have identified final candidates.
"I would love to have the opportunity to come meet with them before the final decision is made, but that decision really won't be mine," he said. As chief academic officer, the provost oversees the dean of the faculty, and the two work together on academic and faculty-related issues.
Schlissel added that, though it may be difficult for the University to identify a new dean while also dealing with a provost turnover, he respects Vohra's decision to return to academia.
Vohra and Kertzer's departures from the administration will not create a "huge gap in institutional memory," Vohra said, but new administrators will need to brush up on current issues and debates.
"I'm not disappearing into the sunset," he added. "I'm going to Robinson Hall. There will be a lot of people around who will know what the discussions have been."
The University will try to work out a "transition" with the new dean, he said.
It will help that the new dean will probably come from within the faculty, since that person will bring continuity to ongoing issues such as the debate over proposed tenure changes, Schlissel said.
Vohra said he has been thinking about stepping down at least since the semester began. When he first assumed the position, he did not imagine he would serve longer than five years.
"It's possible I could have continued for another year or so," he said. "But really, I was coming towards the end."
