Announcing a Transition in the Dean’s Office

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

I write to let you know that, after two years of dedicated work at Grinnell, Beronda Montgomery will step down from her role as Dean of the College and Vice President of Academic Affairs for personal reasons. She will retain her position as professor of biology and will begin a one-year sabbatical. Please join me in supporting her decision, with profound gratitude for her leadership and for what we have all accomplished together, as well as for the groundwork that she has laid in support of academic and institutional excellence at Grinnell.

Dean Montgomery’s lasting contributions to the academic and institutional mission of the College include initiating the Quality Initiative on Academic Advising; providing leadership for establishing the Department of African Diaspora Studies in collaboration with the faculty steering committee and the establishment of the Dr. Kesho Scott Endowed Chair of African Diaspora Studies, with lead gifts from Trustee and alumni donors; appointing new leadership in associate deanships for curriculum and academic programs, faculty development and diversity, equity and inclusion, student academic life, the Humanities Center and the Rosenfeld Program; and identifying new leadership for Physical Education, Athletics, and Recreation — and many more endeavors that will enduringly shape the work of the College.

I wish to thank Dean Montgomery for the powerful ideas that she has set in motion at Grinnell College, and for her partnership and consultation throughout this transition.

As we turn to the search for Grinnell College’s next Chief Academic Officer, we will use the weeks ahead as a period of discernment and consultation to articulate what we seek in academic partnership and leadership; to question whether our current structures best serve our academic mission; and to articulate the changes to which we, as a community, are committed.

The by-laws of the Board of Trustees stipulate that the Executive Committee of the Board appoint an interim dean. To ensure a full exploration of the topics we will need to address to prepare for a search naming someone to a permanent position, we have designed a process approved by Board leadership. We contracted with the Registry, a firm that identifies and selects highly qualified and accomplished candidates for interim leadership positions at colleges and universities. Candidates must be immediately available and may not apply for the interim leadership position permanently.

With many thanks to Chief of Staff Myrna Hernández, I have been able to meet with the Direct Reports to the Dean, 2023-24 and 2024-25 members of the Executive Council of the faculty, the Associate Deans of Academic Affairs, members of the Dean’s Office Staff, and vice presidents and other direct reports to the president, and to invite members of these faculty, staff, and administrative groups to participate in interviews of three Registry-provided finalists identified by myself, Chief of Staff Hernández, and Chair of the Faculty, Elaine Marzluff, to whom I also extend my thanks. This process had led us to identify an interim dean and I thank the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees for their approval and appointment of Gerald (Jerry) Seaman as Interim Dean of the College and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

He has served as principal and CEO at the University of Evansville’s Harlaxton College in the United Kingdom, professor, vice president and dean of faculty at Ripon College, where he also briefly served as interim president, and associate professor and associate dean of faculty at Lawrence University. He also served as associate professor and chair of the department of foreign languages at University of Evansville. He will begin his duties on August 12. The main responsibilities of the Interim Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs will be to steward the academic mission of the institution, to ensure that all the operational functions of the Dean’s office run smoothly in this interim period, and to partner with us all in identifying and exploring topics for dialogue in the coming weeks.

Please join me in wishing Dean Montgomery well during her sabbatical and in welcoming Interim Dean Seaman to Grinnell. I am grateful to each and every one of you for your contribution to our academic mission and commitment to Grinnell students.

Anne F. Harris
President