Dean Jane Dammen McAuliffe Named President of Bryn Mawr College
February 9, 2008
The Board of Trustees of Bryn Mawr College announced yesterday that it has appointed Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Dean of Georgetown College, to be its next president. Dean McAuliffe, who has led the College as dean since 1999, was unanimously elected by the Board of the all-women’s college and will succeed Nancy Vickers as the school’s eighth president on July 1.
John J. DeGioia, President of Georgetown University, announced Dean McAuliffe's appointment on Friday via an email to the campus community.
"I know that many of you share my view that Georgetown’s loss is undoubtedly Bryn Mawr’s gain," President DeGioia wrote. "Jane’s deep personal interest in fostering educational opportunities for women, based on her own experiences attending Trinity College and Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, makes the opportunity for her to lead Bryn Mawr particularly meaningful...Her many accomplishments as Dean have deeply benefited the University community and will leave a lasting legacy on our faculty and students."
For the full text of President DeGioia's announcement, please see below.
For more coverage of Dean McAuliffe's appointment as president of Bryn Mawr College, please see:
Full text of President John J. De Gioia's Announcement to Georgetown University Community
Georgetown University
Office of the President
February 8, 2008
Dear Members of the Georgetown Community:
With great appreciation for her leadership and dedication to Georgetown I write to inform you that earlier today the Trustees of Bryn Mawr College named Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Dean of Georgetown College, to be their next President, effective July 1. I know that many of you share my view that Georgetown’s loss is undoubtedly Bryn Mawr’s gain. Jane’s deep personal interest in fostering educational opportunities for women, based on her own experiences attending Trinity College and Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, makes the opportunity for her to lead Bryn Mawr particularly meaningful.
In her 9 years as Dean of Georgetown College, Jane has become a trusted friend and colleague. She is not only an accomplished scholar but also a successful administrator and dedicated campus leader. She has played a critical role in Georgetown’s efforts to advance interreligious understanding and found the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, increase endowed faculty positions and student scholarships, build facilities including the Royden B. Davis Performing Arts Center and develop plans for a new science center, and expand undergraduate and graduate programs in a range of disciplines.
Her many accomplishments as Dean have deeply benefited the University community and will leave a lasting legacy on our faculty and students. As an internationally known scholar of Islamic studies, Jane has published extensively on early Islamic history and the multiple relations between Islam and Christianity. In 2004, she served as president of the American Academy of Religion and in 2007 was elected to the American Philosophical Society. She has been a tremendous resource for our community as we have worked together to foster interreligious dialogue on campus and around the world and I am deeply grateful for the opportunities we’ve had to engage her expertise, including the International Prayer for Peace, the Building Bridges Conference with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and numerous other occasions.
Jane’s husband, Dennis, a scholar of medieval Italian literature, who has been an instrumental member of our community in his own right, will also join the faculty of Bryn Mawr College. I look forward to being with many of you in person over the next several months as we find ways to celebrate and thank them for their many contributions to Georgetown.
In the coming weeks I will work with Provost O’Donnell to organize a formal search process for Jane’s successor and we will keep you informed of those developments. In the meantime, please join me in congratulating Jane and Dennis on their many collective accomplishments.
Sincerely,
John J. DeGioia
