Interim Dean of the Graduate School and Deputy Provost Janet Blume will retire in June, Provost Francis Doyle announced in a Thursday Today@Brown message.
Blume, also an associate professor of engineering, took on the role of interim dean of the Graduate School in August after the departure of Thomas Lewis ’90. She joined Brown’s faculty in 1986 and became an administrator in 2011, when she was appointed associate dean of the faculty. Blume has served as deputy provost since 2022.
“I am proud to have taught thousands of undergraduate and graduate students over the years and am honored to have been a part of their lives and educations,” Blume wrote in a message to Doyle shared in Thursday’s announcement.
Doyle wrote that in her administrative roles, Blume “has been a steadfast champion for Brown’s faculty and students, helping to devise and implement academic initiatives, spearheading special projects and guiding academic departments through periods of transition and renewal.”
Blume’s retirement comes at a time of change for Brown’s graduate programs. At a faculty meeting on Tuesday, Doyle said that the University planned to reduce PhD admissions by roughly 20%. Weeks earlier, The Herald reported that Brown had paused PhD admissions in at least six academic departments for the 2026-27 academic year.
Doyle intends to announce plans “in the coming weeks for staffing the Office of the Provost” and expects to announce an appointment for a new dean of the Graduate School “before the end of the fall semester,” he wrote.
Ethan Schenker is a university news editor covering staff and student labor. He is from Bethesda, MD, and plans to study International and Public Affairs and Economics. In his free time, he enjoys playing piano and clicking on New York Times notifications.
