Ex-Nursing dean named acting pres.

and BETH TRITTER Former Nursing School Dean Claire Fagin will be named acting president by the Trustees' Executive Committee today, President Sheldon Hackney said yesterday. She will take over the post in mid-summer, assuming Hackney's nomination to head the National Endowment for the Humanities is confirmed by the Senate. The Senate's Labor and Human Resources Committee -- the congressional group responsible for confirming the NEH chairperson -- has not yet announced dates for Hackney's confirmation hearings. Hackney said yesterday that he applauds the Trustees' appointment and said Fagin is the person he would have chosen to fill the presidential void, calling her "the perfect choice." Hackney did, in fact, submit a list of possible candidates to the Trustees, but said Fagin "was clearly my favorite." "[Fagin] did such a marvelous job with the Nursing School over a long period of time," he said. "She really understands the University [and] can step [into the president's position] with relatively little learning time needed." Hackney said Fagin -- who was Nursing School dean for 14 years -- established a "caring atmosphere" within the Nursing School. Nursing Dean Norma Lang, who succeeded Fagin at the school, said she thinks the University has made an "excellent" choice. "Her first love is the University of Pennsylvania," Lang said. "[She's] such an advocate for students, both undergraduate and graduate students. I think one needs a president who is committed to the University, and that's Claire Fagin." Vice President and Secretary of the University Barbara Stevens said yesterday that the decision to name Fagin acting president was made "late last week," and that "the Executive Committee of the Trustees will be on campus Friday" to finalize both Fagin's appointment and that of Acting Provost Marvin Lazerson. Fagin is expected to act as president for about a year. Hackney said it is a "reasonable timetable" to assume that a permanent president will be found by next January and that the new administrator will probably start July 1 of next year. Stevens said yesterday that Fagin was the "overwhelming choice [for acting president] for many people," and that she will be a "simply terrific leader." Fagin, who will move into the president's Walnut Street home late this summer, said in a statement yesterday that living on campus "is a way to indicate the level of involvement I intend to have in University and campus life." Hackney was the first University president to live on campus. Board of Trustees Chairperson Alvin Shoemaker was out of the country and could not be reached for comment yesterday.

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