Watcher ready to head back to U.'s Law School

Former Interim Provost Michael Wachter returns to teaching and research. After spending more than three years in the provost's office, Michael Wachter is moving back to the Law School -- and the 55-year-old academic expects the view from his new window to be just as bright. After serving as deputy provost from June 1995 until the end of 1997, Wachter took over as Penn's chief academic officer during the extended search for a permanent successor to former Provost Stanley Chodorow. He officially stepped down on December 31, 1997, after a full year in office, to return to teaching and research at Penn's Law School. Wachter interviewed with the search committee charged with finding a new provost, but the job was ultimately awarded to Neurology and Neuroscience Department Chairperson Robert Barchi. Though Wachter's resignation as interim provost was effective at the end of last year, Barchi will not take over officially until February 1. "I'm absolutely going back to research, teaching and running the Institute of Law and Economics," Wachter said. "You can't take off any longer than [three years] without it being hard to come back." Wachter said that at the time Chodorow offered him the deputy provost's post, he only intended to spend three years working in the office. He explained that he strayed from the plan -- serving a total of 3 1/2 years in College Hall -- because of the timing of Chodorow's December 1997 resignation. As interim provost, Wachter presided over the implementation of the college house system, which reorganized on-campus housing into 12 residential colleges with expanded services and residential staffing. He also initiated the first evaluative external review program for the University's schools and departments and helped create distributed-learning programs with the Wharton School and the School of Arts and Sciences. In addition, Wachter chaired the Academic Planning and Budget Committee for the Agenda for Excellence, University President Judith Rodin's five-year master plan aimed at increased academic programming and campus improvement. Wachter said his final duties were to spend time helping Barchi ease into the provost's office. As he returns to the Law School, where he has worked for the last 15 years, Wachter plans to dedicate his time to research projects throughout the semester and resume teaching next fall. Wachter has taught at the University since 1969, previously holding his primary faculty appointments in SAS and Wharton. In addition to his teaching and research, Wachter will continue to work as director of the Institute of Law and Economics, a position he has held since 1984. Law Professor Ed Rock said he "has been waiting years" for Wachter to come back to the Law School. Rock has served with Wachter since 1991 and the two professors will continue to collaborate this semester on research focusing on corporate and labor law. According to Rock, Wachter's return will be nothing short of a boon to the Law School. "I don't think we've gotten the credit we deserve for giving [Wachter] up for the last 3 1/2 years," Rock said. Wachter labeled his transition from provost to professor "as smooth as can be." While Wachter said he is looking forward to going back to the Law School, he added that he "thoroughly enjoyed" his time as both deputy and interim provost.