This afternoon, Dean of the Wharton School Thomas Robertson announced in an email to students in Wharton’s undergraduate, MBA and doctoral programs that he will not seek reappointment as Dean at the end of his term on June 30, 2014.
Robertson has held the position since August 2007. He previously served as a member of the Wharton faculty from 1971 to 1994.
By the end of his tenure, Robertson will have completed seven years as dean. “Maybe that’s long enough and maybe it’s time to reinvent myself,” he said. “I feel that I’ve accomplished much that I wanted to. It feels good and it feels like the right time. I’d rather go out feeling I’ve made a positive difference.”
In his email, Robertson cited a number of accomplishments that marked his term so far, including the renovation of Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall and Vance Hall and the addition of a new Wharton campus in San Francisco.
As dean, Robertson has also been committed to hiring faculty, creating a new MBA program and implementing his three strategic pillars: social impact, innovation and global initiatives. Under his leadership, Wharton has also seen improvements in its facilities on campus and expansion to San Francisco and China, among other accomplishments.
“Tom Robertson has shown strong leadership across an extraordinary five decades since he first arrived here as a young professor in 1971,” Provost Vincent Price said in a statement. “His legacy will be felt for many years to come, and I look forward to continuing to work with him in the year ahead.”
Two other deans, Graduate School of Education Dean Andy Porter and School of Nursing Dean Afaf Meleis, have also announced recently that they would retire at the end of their terms in June 2014.
A search committee will be put in place to find Robertson’s successor, later in the spring.
Until the transition occurs, Robertson’s work as the Wharton dean isn’t done. He hopes to continue recent efforts with enhancing the technological, as well as the online, experience for students.
He hopes to look at the cost of education — “We can’t keep raising tuition levels,” he said — as well as continue hiring more faculty and creating a diverse teaching environment for students.
“We have much left to accomplish,” he said in the email, “and I look forward to working with many more of you over the next 15 months as I complete my term.”
Robertson hopes to return to the Marketing faculty.
General Assignments editor Glenn Shrum contributed reporting.
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