Search for Wharton, Law deans not yet finished

Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity will step down today, but Law School Dean Colin Diver will continue as dean this summer. When Wharton School Dean Thomas Gerrity and Law School Dean Colin Diver announced last fall that they would both step down from their positions on July 1, they did so with the hope that their two jobs would be filled by that date. Now, as both positions remain vacant and administrators continue to be generally tight-lipped about the searches' progress, one administrator will be returning to his office -- at least for the summer. Diver said he is prepared to continue to assume his responsibilities for the remainder of the summer, but is still expected to step down officially before the start of the next academic year. "I told [University] President [Judith] Rodin quite some time ago that I would be happy to stay on as dean through the summer," Diver said Tuesday. And Charles Mooney, the Law School's associate dean for academic affairs, confirmed that Diver is "willing to assist with administrative things through the summer." According to Law School Search Committee Chairperson Richard Herring, who is also Wharton's undergraduate dean, the committee remains committed to finding the "very best" candidate, though he declined to give a timetable or disclose the number of candidates the committee is currently reviewing. "We've taken the view that it's better to do this right than quickly," Herring said. A search committee, comprised of four faculty members, four Law School professors, two Law School students and one alumnus, has been working since the fall to screen both internal and external candidates. Gerrity, however, is expected to step down today in order to spend more time with his family, ending his eight-year tenure at the University. And, like the Law dean search, there are no plans to name an immediate replacement for Gerrity. There are "quite a few" candidates currently being considered as Gerrity's successor, said Graduate School of Fine Arts Dean Gary Hack, who chairs the search committee. "We're pushing ahead as best we can," Hack said, though he also declined to discuss the specifics of the search, noting only that Gerrity will be a "free man" beginning today. The University hired the international executive-search firm Spencer Stuart last winter to facilitate the Wharton dean search process. In February, the committee reported that it had pared the list of candidates down to around a dozen businesspersons, academics and others. Wharton Deputy Dean Patrick Harker, who is also the former chairperson of the Operations and Information Management Department and a current member of the search committee, said he will "fulfill the functions of the school" as the search progresses. There are currently no plans to appoint an interim dean in either school, and Provost Robert Barchi said such a decision would depend entirely "on the progress and recommendations of these two committees."