Wihl to leave Rice for Wash U

By Margeux Clemmons     1/22/09 6:00pm

After five years as the dean of humanities, Gary Wihl is leaving Rice to accept a position as dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Wihl was hired in 2003 and was contracted through 2010, but was recently actively recruited by Washington University, University Art Director Molly Hipp Hubbard said.

"Somehow [Washington University] got word of how successful he has been at Rice, and they contacted him completely out of the blue;" said Hubbard, who worked with Wihl as the director of special projects. "It's a big step up for him."

During his time at Rice, Wihl started Rice's doctorate program in art history and recruited several new art history professors for the program.

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"He decided that Rice needed to be more connected to the art and science community in Houston," Hubbard said. "He created two programs with two major museums, and he did that in a very strategic way."

These programs include a lecture series hosted with the Menil Collection, a program in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston that includes hiring individuals to act both as MFAH curators and Rice professors in art history, and a pilot medical humanities program.

Wihl also helped establish the Campbell Lecture series with the help of a $1 million contribution from alumnus T.C. Campbell ('34). The series invites scholars to present original material in literature studies over three evenings and is scheduled to occur annually for 20 years.

The Dunlevie Summer Writing Fellowship, which was also created under Wihl's leadership, provides $1,500 each to 15 students and an opportunity to work with a faculty member from an introductory humanities course to write a research paper over the summer.

Will Rice College senior Dana Hoffman participated in the program three years ago and said she found it a rewarding experience.

"The program was good for me because it was a great opportunity as a freshman to write about something worthwhile and to think that one could actually make money in the humanities," Hoffman said.

Additionally, Wihl was instrumental in raising funds for the department's $80 million campaign, which included an anonymous $20 million donation for new professorships in the humanities, said Hubbard, who formerly worked with Wihl as Director of Special Projects.

Provost Eugene Levy will assemble a search committee for a new dean of humanities. The committee will consist of one or two students, at least one staff member, outside faculty and a representative from either the board of trustees or the community, according to Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Carol Quillen.

The committee will collaborate with a search consultant to identify and narrow-down a list of potential candidates, three to ten of whom will take part in a comprehensive interview process, Quillen said.

"I wouldn't rule out the search being completed by the fall, but we won't rush the search," she said. The most important thing is for us to find a really great dean for the school of humanities."

Wihl will begin his new position on July 1 and will be accompanied by his wife Sarah Westphal-Wihl, current Rice associate professor of German Studies. Westphal-Wihl will be an associate professor in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures in Art & Sciences at Washington University, according to Washington University press.

"I think he's been a magnificent dean," Hubbard said. "What he did was really elevate the school of humanities. I know it was a very hard decision for him because he loves Rice, he very much appreciates how Rice has been supportive of him and he loves and all the programs he has helped create.

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