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The newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University April 16, 2007 | Vol. 36 No. 30
 
Search for Provost Now Under Way

New chief academic officer likely to be named by July 31

By Greg Rienzi
The Gazette

A national search is well under way to identify a successor to Steven Knapp, the university's provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, who will be stepping down this summer to assume the presidency of George Washington University.

The universitywide search committee appointed by President William R. Brody and chaired by Michael Klag, dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is looking to establish as broad, diverse and distinguished a pool of candidates as possible.

Klag said that the 12-member committee has already received a "robust" number of "very impressive" nominees.

The group will identify and evaluate candidates for presentation to the president and the board of trustees. President Brody said he hopes a successor will be selected by July 31.

Knapp, who has served in his current role at Johns Hopkins for the past 10 years, will take office at George Washington on Aug. 1.

Knapp came to Hopkins in 1994 as dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and was appointed the 11th provost of Johns Hopkins in October 1996, after serving in the position on an interim basis since January.

As provost, Knapp has commenced many institutionwide initiatives, given special priority to the university's role in the community and been a key player to extend Johns Hopkins' global reach.

"Dr. Knapp has done an outstanding job," Brody said. "He's been a wonderful provost. He's set the bar for the type of person we are trying to recruit. Steve is universally respected and liked and has done a phenomenal job for this university during challenging times. We will certainly miss him a great deal."

The provost and senior vice president for academic affairs is the university's chief academic officer and reports to the president.

The individual's primary responsibilities are to provide leadership for the university's nine academic divisions, the Applied Physics Laboratory and numerous interdisciplinary research centers and institutes, and to work with the president in representing Johns Hopkins to all of its external constituents.

As the chief academic officer, the provost develops and implements strategic initiatives with the president, leads the university's budgeting process and works with the deans and directors in the creation and oversight of interdivisional programs and the coordination of the university's regional, national and international activities.

The provost also serves as secretary of the Academic Affairs Committee of the board of trustees and as the liaison to the board of trustees for academic initiatives and issues.

In addition, he or she will be expected to play a leading role in the development of new multischool and multidisciplinary initiatives.

Klag said that ideal candidate will be a strategic and visionary leader with a demonstrated commitment to academic excellence and a proven record of inspiring and leading faculty, staff and students.

"We need someone who will command respect from our faculty, an articulate individual with a record of scholarly achievement who can lead by persuasion," Klag said. "I also think we need to recruit someone who enjoys the intellectual challenges of interacting with a diversity of schools, such as we have here at Johns Hopkins."

The Johns Hopkins University, regarded as among the nation's most highly acclaimed comprehensive research universities, currently enrolls 19,000 students and offers approximately 230 degree programs (baccalaureate, master's, doctoral and professional).

Members of the provost search committee are Klag; Chi Dang, vice dean for research, School of Medicine; Julian Gray, Conservatory faculty, Peabody Institute; Michael Hanchard, professor, Political Science, KSAS; Mariale Hardiman, assistant dean, Department of Teacher Development and Leadership, School of Education; Charlene Hayes, vice president for human resources; James McGill, senior vice president for finance and administration; Charles Meneveau, professor, Mechanical Engineering, WSE; Gayle Page, professor and director of the Center for Nursing Research, School of Nursing; Bruce Parrott, professor and director of the Russian and Eurasian Studies Program, SAIS; John Sommerer, director, Science and Technology, APL; Elaine Worzala, professor, Real Estate, Carey Business School.

The search committee is being assisted by Russell Reynolds Associates. Nominations and inquiries should be directed to Ilene H. Nagel at jhu-provost@RussellReynolds.com. Applications from women and underrepresented minorities are actively encouraged.

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