Longtime classics prof to fill dean post

Classical Studies Professor Joseph Farrell will take over the position of associate dean for Arts and Letters on July 1, School of Arts and Sciences officials announced on Friday. Farrell will fill the post after current Arts and Letters Associate Dean Rebecca Bushnell moves up to assume the deanship of the College of Arts and Sciences -- a vacancy which will exist after current College Dean Richard Beeman leaves to pursue a year-long professorship at Oxford University. School of Arts and Sciences Dean Samuel Preston said that through consultation with those who understand the facets of the arts and letters deanship, Farrell was chosen from among all the possible candidates for the position. Farrell "is someone who is very thoughtful and very astute and full of insight into how things could be run better," Preston said. In his new capacity, Farrell will oversee 11 humanities departments, including English, romance languages, music and classical studies. Although currently on sabbatical in Rome, Italy, Farrell has been a member of Penn's faculty since 1984, serving both as a professor and as associate dean for Graduate Studies from 1999 to 2002. Farrell explains that his previous experience within a deanship will aid him in fulfilling his future responsibilities. "I think the main advantage I bring from my work in the graduate division is the ability to build on existing relationships while I master the details involved in the new job," Farrell wrote in an e-mail statement. "I am already part of a team that I think works very well together," Farrell added. His insight into the deanship isn't limited only to that which comes through day-to-day interaction, though. Last year, Bushnell left on a sabbatical of her own for two and a half months. During that period, Farrell covered many responsibilities which will soon be part of his daily routine. Although the name plate on the College Hall office door will change, Farrell explains that the plans and visions that Bushnell has established for the humanities departments will basically remain the same. "Rebecca and I have very similar views on most issues that affect humanities departments, so I am not coming into this job with an urge to change course or shake things up," Farrell wrote. "During the next year, I expect to focus on faculty issues and on familiarizing myself with departmental and programmatic needs in greater detail than I have done in the past," he added. In addition to continuing with the course that Bushnell has taken, Preston believes that the future dean will bring some of his past work with information technology into the realm of the humanities. As a former chairman of the College's Distributed Learning Committee, Farrell will attempt to "advance the use of information technology in the humanities" while serving in his new capacity, Preston said. Bushnell explained that Farrell's breadth of interests and expertise -- such as information technology -- in addition to his in-depth knowledge of the humanities, will serve him well in his new position. "He understands very deeply what the needs are... for faculty building... [and has] a very broad sense of what the strengths and weaknesses are of the humanities," Bushnell said, adding that he is "a wonderful person to do the job."

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