Prof's move spurs dean speculation

Law School Professor Heidi Hurd resigned this summer from the 11-member Law School dean search committee, a move that now makes her eligible for the vacant position. "I can't confirm or deny" that Hurd is a candidate, Wharton School Vice Dean Richard Herring, head of the search committee, said yesterday. Members of dean search committees cannot be considered for the position themselves. Hurd refused to comment for this article, but the Law School's monthly student newspaper, The Penn Law Forum, reported that Hurd had left the committee for "personal reasons." Law School Professor Sarah Barringer Gordon took Hurd's spot on the committee in early September. "It was not a disagreement with her colleagues," Herring said, denying the existence of any internal strife among committee members. The search for a permanent replacement for former Law School Dean Colin Diver has been ongoing since last January. Herring said the committee has reviewed over 100 internal and external candidates since that time. The committee is currently meeting as frequently as twice a week and conducts all of its interviews in various off-campus locations so as to maintain absolute privacy. Herring would not say how many candidates are currently on the list, nor would he comment on how many of the remaining candidates are from within the University. He said several candidates have struck the committee as particularly viable options. "It's fair to say that there's several names around which there is considerable enthusiasm," Herring said. It is not clear whether the actual person chosen will be an internal or external candidate or when the search will conclude. "We're still in session," Herring said. "We're grinding away. The committee, more than anyone else, wants it to be done." Herring said yesterday that the committee is searching for people who are "intellectual leaders" who possess "enormous energy" and solid fundraising skills. Several Law School faculty members, including members of the search committee, reached for comment over the past week have declined to speak about the search. The committee had hoped to submit a list of between three and five candidates to University President Judith Rodin by last July, the date when Diver had initially said he would step down. When it became clear that the search would not end by that date, Diver agreed to say on for the remainder of the summer. Rodin and Provost Robert Barchi named Charles Mooney, the Law School's associate dean for academic affairs, the school's interim dean in early August. Mooney said recently that he has no interest in serving as permanent dean. Once given the short list by the committee, Rodin and Barchi will interview each of the candidates and will make the final decision. During his 10-year tenure at the helm of the Law School, Diver expanded the school's facilities and academic support services and raised more than $100 million for its endowment and activities. He announced his resignation in October 1998 on the same day as former Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity, whose position, too, remains vacant.