Dean of Faculty David Bell will be resigning in February in order to become a professor at Princeton University this summer, making him the second dean planning to leave Hopkins this year.
At Princeton, Bell will be taking a job in the history department, where he will be filling a position vacated by Robert Darnton, a man Bell described as both a mentor and a friend.
Bell's wife was offered a job at Columbia University. The combination of these two offers was enough to lure both away from their respective positions at Hopkins and the University of Maryland's School of Medicine.
This was a "combo too good to pass up," Bell said.?
Although he will be leaving, he emphasized "the enormous privilege" to have been able to work at Hopkins and lauded the "fabulous" team in the Dean's Office.
"I have no dissatisfaction at all with Hopkins. I wish Hopkins all the best," he said.
Although he will be officially leaving Hopkins next July, he will be resigning from his position as Dean of Faculty on February 1, 2010.
Bell has served as Dean of Faculty for the past two and half years and has been a professor in the history department since 1996.
Bell is considered one of Hopkins's and the nation's foremost experts in French history, focusing on early Modern France and the interactions between early Modern Europe and the wider world.
"His services to this University, as teacher, historian and Dean, will be missed. Personally, I have always found him approachable and reasonable - the kind of thoughtful administrator we all want to have," history professor Louis Galambos said.
"He is a fabulous teacher, scholar and administrator. I wish him well, and will miss him very much," Adam Falk, Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, said.
Falk himself is leaving to become President of Williams College.
The loss of both Falk and Bell is a complement to the quality of Hopkins administrators, according to Jerome Schnydman, Executive Assistant to Hopkins President Ronald Daniels.
"We have terrific people and everyone in the country knows that . . . Hopefully we'll continue our streak of hiring good deans," he said.
Bell's position as Dean of Faculty is relatively new. It was created only nine years ago and there have been four Deans of Faculty so far, all promoted from within Hopkins.
Bell will be replaced by a new Dean of Faculty, who is yet to be chosen, and two new faculty members in the history department.
"Bell's departure, though it hurts, will not cripple the Department. We intend to remain a force nationally in early modern European history," William Rowe, Chair of the History Department, wrote in an e-mail to The News-Letter.
"We are losing David Bell's great contributions, but bear in mind that we lose scholars from time-to-time because we have such an outstanding history department," Galambos said.?
"If we were second-rate, we wouldn't have this problem."
According to Rowe the search is already underway for Bell's replacement and at least one position will be filled by the time Bell leaves.
History professor Gabrielle Spiegel will serve as the temporary Dean of Faculty until Hopkins can begin the hiring process for a permanent replacement.
Spiegel served as Acting Dean of Faculty from 2005-2007.
Bell compared the "low visibility" Dean of Faculty position to the "engine under the hood of the car."
The job of the Dean of Faculty is to head faculty recruitment, retention, promotion, development, mentoring and tenure.
Bell said he has hired over two dozen new faculty members, started various new tenure and mentoring programs for faculty and headed and been a part of various committees and task forces.
Student reactions to the news reflected the low visibility of the important position.
"It makes sense that we have a position like that but it doesn't seem to have an impact on students," said Lee Ouyang, a senior Biomedical Engineering major.
Ouyang said he had not heard of the position, but admitted Bell could have had an impact when "making a decision that trickles down to students because it's related to teaching or research policies."
"I have heard of the dean of faculty position... but don't know very much about Bell." senior Yasin Akbari said.
