Hutch is new dean

By Seth Brown     8/19/10 7:00pm

Chemistry Professor John Hutchinson became Rice's second dean of undergraduates July 1, the same day that former Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman started work as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Emory University.Hutchinson was selected by a 17-member search committee headed by Interim Dean of Humanities Allen Matusow. The committee included two undergraduates and one graduate student.

Matusow said that the committee wrote the job description for the position and advertised for the position, and then collected material from applicants, conducted interviews and recommended an unranked list of final candidates to the president and provost. These candidates were then interviewed by a variety of constituencies and the process ended when the president made a selection, Matusow said. He said that not all of the candidates recommended were from within Rice, but could not say who the others were.

"Forman did an excellent job and we were looking for someone who could build on what Robin did," Matusow said. "That meant being able to establish rapport with students and represent their interests and at the same time provide leadership in the educational mission of the university."

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Leebron said he spoke to each candidate himself, and there were a number of factors in Hutchinson's selection.

"[Hutchinson has] a deep and genuine commitment to undergraduate education, and he's one of the most popular teachers on campus," Leebron said. "He is well regarded by students and colleagues, and has a vision of what to bring to undergraduate education - new international study opportunities and research opportunities - and he is fully supportive of goals we've set forth."

Also cited by Leebron were Hutchinson's understanding of the university - he has been a master at Brown and Wiess Colleges for a combined 12 years - and his understanding of the necessity to occasionally make sacrifices.

Leebron said that since the dean of undergraduates is in an academic leadership position, it was also important that Hutchinson was a professor.

"Each dean has to decide what structure will work best," Leebron said. "John's job will be to evaluate where we stand and choose our priorities for the next five years."

Wiess College sophomore Rui Zheng had Hutchinson her freshman year for CHEM 121 and 122, the two introductory chemistry courses. She said that he was able to engage students and help them appreciate even otherwise boring subject matter.

"He does always try his best to ensure that people are having the best possible experience in class, so I would expect that to translate to being the dean of undergraduates," Zheng said.

For more coverage, be sure to read this interview!

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