Scott BresslerEdward Macias, executive vice chancellor and dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, will step down from his post to become provost of Washington University. He will begin his tenure as provost in January 2009 after a six-month sabbatical beginning in June.
The decision was announced on Friday afternoon.
Chancellor Mark Wrighton said that Macias’ experience and successful track record at the University make him a good fit for the new position.
“Dean Macias is our most experienced academic leader and has been key to the rise in quality and impact of Arts & Sciences,” Wrighton wrote in an e-mail to Student Life. “He has contributed very significantly to the expansion of the faculty and has strengthened support for the faculty.”
Macias’s new position will expand his current role as executive vice chancellor for academic affairs of the University. As provost, Macias will serve as the University’s chief academic officer, overseeing the University’s educational and scholarly sectors and working to improve their programs and quality.
In that capacity Macias will coordinate with the academic deans, as well as with the University’s chief investment officer, Kim Walker, and executive vice chancellor for administration, Hank Webber, to supervise the University’s budgeting sector.
Wrighton said that Macias’ new position would allow him to better focus his tasks.
“In relinquishing his duties as dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences he will have much more time to focus on the University’s entire academic enterprise,” Wrighton said. “He will be responsible for working closely with me and the deans of our schools to build the quality and impact of our academic mission.”
The University has not had a provost since 1995, when Macias last served in that role. He took on the job of dean of Arts & Sciences in that year.
Macias said that the position of provost is necessary in order to facilitate coordination between the University’s many sectors.
“The University is completing a process of strategic planning for the future,” Macias wrote in an e-mail to Student Life. “The plans outline many new initiatives which will require all of us to work together in new ways. This implementation can be encouraged and strengthened by a close working relationship between the provost and the academic leaders of the schools.”
Macias plans to focus on interdisciplinary programs and international studies in his new role.
“We must always strive to improve what we do,” Macias said in a University press release. “I’m looking forward to working closely with the schools and the central administration to encourage and implement our academic priorities.”
One of Macias’ principal roles as provost will be supervising the implementation of the “Plan for Excellence,” a ten-year, University-wide project focused on improving education within each of the University’s schools, as well as administrative streamlining and cooperation between schools.
“Dr. Macias will be important to the execution of our new plans in the era ahead,” Wrighton said. “I am very grateful to the commitment Dr. Macias has made to take on such an important assignment, and his involvement as a key leader here strengthens my confidence of our continuing success for all of our schools and the University as a whole.”
The administration plans to announce the hiring of an interim dean of Arts & Sciences soon, who will begin serving on July 1. The University will also launch a nationwide search for a new, permanent dean of Arts & Sciences.
Macias joined the University faculty in 1970 as an assistant professor of chemistry and became a full professor in 1984. Since then, he has served in several administrative roles including chair of the department of chemistry and director of the summer school program.
With additional reporting by Perry Stein and Kat Zhao.