Dear Pratt Community:

The deans of Pratt’s six schools are among our most accomplished academic leaders. I write to share the news that two of our deans have made plans to step down from their service at the end of this academic year. The Institute will conduct two decanal searches this year to select their successors.

Dean Andrew W. Barnes has led the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences for eight years. During his tenure Dean Barnes has implemented three new graduate programs; created the Department of Writing and integrated the History of Art and Design Department into the School; appointed new chairs to all departments of the School; and hired 25 full-time tenure-track faculty, 11 of whom have achieved tenure to date. Dean Barnes has additionally advanced many important programmatic initiatives and has increased support for faculty research and scholarship.

Dean Thomas Hanrahan has led the School of Architecture for 22 years. In these decades Dean Hanrahan has overseen remarkable expansion in the scope of the School, which has grown from six undergraduate and graduate programs educating some 750 students to 17 programs housing some 1,050 students. He has appointed new chairs throughout the School and appointed 18 new full-time faculty, 11 of whom have achieved tenure to date. Dean Hanrahan has for years fostered a thriving center of architectural theory and practice at Pratt of which we can be very proud.

I am immensely grateful to Tom and Andy for their dedication to their respective schools and for their accomplished service to Pratt. Each will serve as dean

for the duration of this academic year, will enjoy a richly deserved leave during 2018-19, and will then join the Pratt faculty as professors in their schools.

I invite you to join me in congratulating both Andy and Tom for their extraordinary contributions to the excellence of our educational community.

The Institute will conduct two international searches this year for the next deans of Architecture and of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Following governance norms in the Faculty Handbook, each decanal search committee will be composed of a majority of faculty from the school in question. The Academic Senate will conduct an open nomination and ranking process in each of the schools for these faculty members. Composition of the search committees will be completed by mid-October. We anticipate the two new deans joining Pratt during summer 2019.

In this moment of transitions, I know that the excellence of our Schools of Architecture and Liberal Arts and Sciences will attract the interest of many accomplished candidates for these important deanships.

Sincerely,

Kirk E. Pillow
Provost