STAFF EDITORIAL: New deans needed, soon

The engineering, Wharton and Law schools all need permanent leadership as soon as possible. We know full well that dean searches take time. But as the academic year opens with interim deans in place at all three schools, the need to hire permanent deans as soon as possible is great. Even the recent success of Interim Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt only makes us wonder what he -- or some other qualified candidate -- could have accomplished from the stronger position of permanent dean. Don't just take our word for it. Look to the business world, where the penalties for delay and lost opportunity are far more immediate, and the number of companies making due with interim leadership is vanishingly small. Even in this day and age, universities are not subject to all the pressures of corporate America. But schools, too, pay a high cost for the lack of permanent leadership. Only a dean with the credibility of a permanent appointment under his belt is in a position to give potential donors the long-term strategic vision they demand. And the lack of a permanent dean can make it extraordinarily difficult to effect changes, even of the most obvious and necessary kinds. For a recent and relevant example, look no further than Penn's own School of Arts and Sciences. The appointments of SAS Dean Samuel Preston and College Dean Richard Beeman filled holes that had existed for two and one years respectively. Since their appointment in December 1997, Penn has begun to fill long-standing holes in both its Political Science and Chemistry departments -- a testament to the critical role of permanent leadership in solving obvious problems. Beeman's role in the ongoing revamping of the General Requirement is a similar example of a project only possible under the aegis of a permanent dean. To be sure, the deliberate and measured processes leading up to the appointments of Beeman and Preston seem largely justified in retrospect. But the time needed for measured deliberation is not indefinite and the need to move the searches forward is pressing. We trust that all three committees will move quickly to produce lists of finalists. And we trust that the President and Provost will push to put new leadership in place as soon as possible.