Knowles Appoints New Education Deans

Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Jeremy R. Knowles announced the appointment of two influential deans to the Faculty Council on Wednesday.

The new dean of undergraduate education, who oversees the undergraduate academic program including the Core, Expository Writing and concentration requirements, will be Professor of History Susan G. Pedersen '82. She will replace current dean William M. Todd on July 1.

Serving in the same capacity for the graduate school will be Peter T. Ellison, current associate dean of the faculty and professor of anthropology since 1991. Ellison replaces Christoph J. Wolff.

The two deans have no grand plans for their posts, but hope to continue expanding financial aid and scrutinizing curricular requirements.

Less than 20 years after she left the gates of Harvard as an undergraduate, Pedersen will now oversee the curriculum of today's students.

Her new position will be her first administrative appointment.

"I am very new to this. It will take a while to grow into the position," she said. "Harvard is very collaborative. Everyone works together and most decisions are made within the department and in conjunction with the educational policy committee."

To help Knowles achieve one of his current missions, Pedersen will also work with him to ensure that new Faculty members are used effectively for undergraduates, according to Jeffrey Wolcowitz, who has worked under Todd as the associate for undergraduate education.

In the upcoming years, Pedersen hopes to broaden Harvard's curriculum.

"I am great believer in the ideas of liberal education. Harvard allows students to focus on their intellectual passions, even if that's not what they are going to do for the rest of their lives. This enriches students as intellectuals as people," she said.

Her empathy with the student population, Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 said, would help her in the deanship.

"I know that she is concerned about the student experience. As an alumna, she knows this place exceptionally well, from the freshman experience up through the appointment of senior faculty," Lewis wrote in an e-mail message, "and I expect she will assess many decisions and initiatives by their impact on undergraduates."

As the daughter of Lutheran ministers who was raised in Japan, Pedersen brings a unique perspective to the societal conventions that are her area of study.

After concentrating in social studies, she remained at Harvard to receive her master's and doctoral degrees. She began teaching in the History Department in 1988, and received tenure just seven years later.

An expert in European studies, particularly economic development and gender, she is primarily a historian but says she also considers herself a social scientist.

Her first book, "Family Dependence and Origins of the Welfare State", received critical acclaim in 1993.

While Pedersen comes to the job without administrative experience, Ellison is the current associate dean of the faculty.

He has been a professor since 1983 and was tenured seven years later.

Ellison has been highly involved in research, undergraduate education and graduate policy during his years at Harvard. For excellence in teaching undergraduates, he was named one the first five Harvard College Professors in April 1998.

A biological anthropologist by trade and a curator of human biology in the Peabody Museum, Ellison says his varied experience will help him in his new post.

"I think it is entirely compatible to be dedicated to undergraduate teaching, graduate education, research--all rolled into one," he said.

Lewis underlined Ellison's broad-based experience in discussing his qualifications, adding that he would "be a force for constructive thought in this time of change for graduate education."

Ellison's administrative experience has focused on restructuring graduate student financial aid, something which he hopes to emphasize in his new post.

"Dean Wolff has initiated transition in the graduate financial support program. I hope to continue this and make Harvard as attractive to the very best graduate students as possible," he said.

Both Ellison and Pedersen will continue teaching classes with their new positions.

But if their predecessors are any indication, they should set aside substantial time for these jobs.

Todd, the outgoing dean of undergraduate education, worked to increase the number of Core courses, decrease the number of concentration requirements and offer language citations, among other accomplishments.

"Dean Todd has always had the quality of the instructional program at the front of his mind in all the interactions in which I have observed him, from answering dozens of individual student inquiries up through the appointment of senior faculty," Lewis wrote.

Todd also emphasized his work with students in discussing his favorite parts of the post.

"I have thoroughly enjoyed working with several sets of committed and imaginative students on the [Committee on Undergraduate Education] to help implement their suggestions for improving undergraduate education," Todd wrote in an e-mail message.

Todd will continue as a professor of Slavic languages and literatures and of comparative literature when his current post ends.

Wolff also served as the curator of the Isham Memorial Library and is a professor in the music department.

He will continue in those capacities after he completes his term as dean of graduate education.

Pedersen and Ellison had nothing but praise for their predecessors and for each other.

"Both deans have been terrific. I followed Wolff closely in particular with his efforts to get graduate funding at a more happy level," Pedersen said.

Pedersen and Ellison will be working closely together as they integrate graduate and undergraduate education. And that's good news to them.

"I am really looking forward to working with Susan Pedersen. She's a great person, and we'll make a good team," Ellison said.