Hack to end term as dean of Design School

School of Design Dean Gary Hack will leave the University this summer after finishing his twelve-year run as the school's top administrator.

Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt will serve as chairman for the committee responsible for replacing Hack, who will leave the school June 30, 2008.

Hack assumed the position in 1996 and served two consecutive terms, one for seven years and a second for five.

This term structure is standard at Penn: In order to facilitate new ideas and visions, presidents, provosts and deans are not allowed to serve for longer than 12 years.

Glandt also headed the committee to replace former Wharton Dean Patrick Harker last year.

Judith Auerbach of the search firm Auerbach Associates will assist Glandt. Her firm led the search 12 years ago that brought Hack to the University.

Hack will continue serving as dean until this summer, when he will then take a year off, customary after such a long tenure.

Hack has "done a great job, and he continues to do a great job," Gutmann said, adding that he is "respected and beloved by his faculty and has been a great University citizen."

Looking back at the last 12 years, Hack said he can't take all the credit for the School's successes.

"A dean can be the conductor of the orchestra, but in the end, it's the orchestra that makes the wonderful sound," Hack said.

One of the new dean's most important responsibilities will be to continue Hack's efforts in Penn Design's portion of the University's $3.5-billion capital campaign.

Penn Design has currently raised 57 percent of its fundraising goal, and Hack hopes to raise 60 or 65 percent by the time he leaves in June.

There will also be some standard issues for the new dean to address.

"We have a number of faculty who have retired recently, and we need to fill positions," Hack said. He also cited the need to refurbish physical space within the school.

The search committee will meet for the first time today, when Gutmann and Provost Ron Daniels will give their formal charge to the committee members.

They will "set the context for what they would like to happen under the tenure of the next dean," Auerbach said.

She and her search firm will be present throughout the process to help the University find a suitable fit for the school.

"We are the people who, in the initial stages of the search, communicate the strengths and challenges of Penn Design and the University of Pennsylvania" to potential candidates, Auerbach said.

One of Auerbach's main duties will be to search for candidates who fit the school's needs but might not apply without being approached, she said.

And while it is premature to map out a formal timeline, everyone would be "comfortable saying they'd hope for a new dean in place by July 1 when [Hack] steps down," Auerbach said.

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