DEAN'S COLUMN
With Thanks

By Samuel H. Preston

As I complete a seven-year term as dean of Arts and Sciences, I am filled with admiration for those who, at every level, make the School an extraordi-narily vital and successful enterprise.

The faculty in Arts and Sciences contains world leaders in discipline after discipline. If I needed any reminders of their standing, the two Nobel prizes during my deanship provided gratifying evidence along with two National Book Critics Circle awards, one Pulitzer prize, a National Medal of Science, 19 Guggenheims, and over 500 federal research grants. But the faculty also knows that being at Penn involves more than long hours in laboratories and archives, or publications in leading outlets. Penn professors are enthusiastically engaged with students and colleagues in an electric atmosphere of intellectual excitement and civic commitment. We have a remarkable faculty, and the greatest privilege of being dean has been the opportunity to become better acquainted with these path-breaking scholars.

Perhaps the most unexpected and delightful aspect of being dean was experiencing the intense loyalty of Arts and Sciences alumni. Penn pride is pervasive and highly infectious. With no relevant background, I had no idea whether I would enjoy the alumni relations and development component of being dean. But the enthusiasm of our alumni has made this one of the most satisfying features of the position. I am especially gratified by generous gifts from alumni that supported undergraduate financial aid, endowed chairs for faculty, and our four most important facilities projects: Bennett Hall, the Music Building, the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, and the Carolyn Hoff Lynch Biology Laboratory (story p.29). Our alumni have helped ensure that Penn Arts and Sciences will remain a vibrant home for students and faculty for many generations to come.

Our talented and dedicated staff has done a wonderful job of enabling faculty and students to achieve their scholarly goals. When it comes to the daily operations of a large organization, it is too often the case that things can be running smoothly, and no one seems to be paying attention. Then something goes wrong, and the flaws in the machine’s inner workings become apparent. The prevention of problems happens behind the scenes with little public applause. As someone who has now spent a great deal of time behind the scenes, I can attest that the SAS staff has an exceptional ability to anticipate problems and nip them in the bud. The staff contributes mightily to the outstanding morale in SAS, and we are very fortunate to have such a capable group.

With its 10,000 students, 38 buildings, annual budget of $340 million, and nearly 500 faculty members, administering the School is far beyond the capacity of any single person. Whatever success I have achieved as dean is primarily attributable to a resourceful, creative, and generous group of colleagues in the deanship: David Balamuth, Rick Beeman, Rebecca Bushnell, Joe Farrell, Richard Hendrix, Jean-Marie Kneeley, Walter Licht, Mike Mandl, Jack Nagel, Allison Rose, Ramin Sedehi, and Herb Smith. I am deeply indebted to them for their calm sense of purpose and their insistence on the highest standards of performance.

The English poet Thomas Gray spoke of “the still small voice of gratitude.” As I depart, it is my wish in this final Dean’s Column that gratitude’s voice be fully heard, even if not all of the deserving names are mentioned. I am privileged to have had the oppor-tunity to serve the School as dean, and I am inspired by the many talented and committed people who make it great.