Committee seeks provost replacement

By Josh Rutenberg     11/12/09 6:00pm

Following Provost Eugene Levy's announcement to step down from his post in September, a provost search committee has been formed to find a suitable alternative. The committee is composed of 16 members: 12 faculty, one member of the Board of Trustees, one staff member, one graduate student and one undergraduate representative. Former Dean of Natural Sciences Kathleen Matthews will chair the committee. Sid Richardson College senior Claire Shorall and graduate student Nastassja Lewinski will serve as student representatives.

Members of the Rice community nominated the faculty members to the committee. Faculty on the committee suggest internal and external candidates for provost, and an additional search firm will be hired to identify potential candidates. The committee will evaluate prospective candidates based on a number of different qualities, President David Leebron said.

"[The candidate] should be very successful in engaging with faculty in understanding teaching and research missions of the university," Leebron said. "[The candidate] should appreciate ways in which Rice is distinctive. [He or she] should be a person of substantial accomplishment and experience as an academic leader."

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The Provost Search Committee, like most other search committees, will operate confidentially. Leebron said those on the committee are better able to select the best candidate if the deliberations are made in confidence. The committee will suggest a small number of finalists to Leebron, who will make the final selection.

"Our hope is the recommendation of final candidates will not come later than March," Leebron said.

Levy is set to step down June 30, at the end of the academic year. Since joining the Rice community in 2001, Levy has spearheaded several initiatives, including the Passport to Houston program, Leebron's Vision for the Second Century and the BioScience Research Collaborative.

"Gene is a person of quite remarkable breadth and interest and knowledge," Leebron said. "He has shown a deep appreciation for the full range of academic endeavors at Rice."

Leebron said Levy's tenure as provost played an integral role in his decisions.

"I try not to make any important decision without consulting Gene," Leebron said.

Levy will be taking a one-year sabbatical before returning to Rice as a professor of physics and astronomy and a fellow at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

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