Hyatt to leave U. in November

Executive Director Linda Hyatt announced yesterday that she will depart the University on November 1, becoming the third person to leave the president's office in two months. Hyatt will be the new executive director of the Landmark Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia. The Foundation is part of the Landmark Communications Corporation, which owns newspapers and television stations in the southeast and Las Vegas. In her new role, Hyatt will oversee the awarding of grants to the various newspapers and television stations in the area. "It is an incredible opportunity where I can make decisions about bold, new initiatives," Hyatt said. "My position at Penn has been exciting and incredibly rewarding, but it is not the kind of job one holds onto indefinitely." The announcement follows the August resignation of former Executive Vice President Janet Hale, who was replaced by Jack Friedman. Friedman is filling the position until a permanent selection can be made. Assistant to the President Nicholas Constan also left his position on July 1, after serving in the administrations of Claire Fagin and Sheldon Hackney. Constan is still serving as an adjunct professor of Legal Studies at the University. Hyatt said her decision was partly based on the change of administrations that occurred this summer. "I think it is very important to make the move now," Hyatt said. "It obviously is going to be most helpful to the president if she can construct the kind of team that she wants to help her fulfill her agenda to Penn." She added that she and President Judith Rodin "enjoyed working together," but that this was the logical time "for me to live many different parts of my life." Hyatt plans to move from her home in the Quadrangle to Norfolk. Hyatt was originally from Virginia, before she came to the University eight years ago. Her husband, Political Science Professor Will Harris, will stay in Philadelphia, as Senior Faculty-in-Residence in the Upper Quad. Harris said he will also keep his current course load and his position as director of the Benjamin Franklin Scholars Program. He hopes to commute to Virginia to see his wife on a regular basis. And Hyatt said her workload will be "more flexible" so she will be able to spend a fair amount of time at the University. Though officials in the President's Office said they will be sorry to see Hyatt go, they congratulated her and wished her luck in her new position. "It sounds like a fabulous opportunity for her," Provost Stanley Chodorow said last night. "They're going to be delighted down there to have her." Chodorow said Hyatt helped him in his first months in office by preparing for meetings and by providing information. "She has done a good deal of work of a non-specific sort here -- work that isn't really assigned to anyone," he said. "I have always found her effective?and she is very thorough." Assistant to the President Steven Steinberg said Hyatt is an "extraordinary colleague" whom he has worked "very closely with for many years." "I am delighted for her that she has found a professional challenge opportunity that is commiserate with her exceptional skills and abilities," he said. "I wish her all the best but I will miss her." Rodin did not return phone calls placed to her office yesterday.