Dean Schwartz leaves for Temple

Two months ago, School of Social Work Dean Ira Schwartz sent the Class of 2001 out into the world.

And soon, Schwartz will also bid Penn farewell, as he accepts a higher academic post across the city.

Schwartz, 56, was appointed as the new provost of Temple University last Wednesday, effective September 4.

"Dean Schwartz is a distinguished scholar and has proven himself a brilliant academic administrator," Temple President David Adamany said in a statement.

"He is just the leader Temple needs as we strengthen our programs of teaching and research and expand our commitment to the community," Adamany said.

In the meantime, Penn is exploring the candidates for Schwartz's replacement, both on an interim and permanent basis.

Though Penn has not named an interim dean, Provost Robert Barchi said that one will be in place by the end of August when Schwartz vacates his position.

Schwartz did not believe finding an interim dean should be a problem.

"We have many excellent faculty, any one of whom would be an excellent choice," he said.

However, the search for a permanent dean will involve a lengthy search process.

"As we always do, we will step back and look at our options for the school with the intention of looking at the best course for replacing Ira," Barchi said.

Schwartz will take over for acting Temple Provost Corrinne Caldwell. Temple had been without a permanent provost for over three years.

According to Harriet Goodheart, Temple's acting communications director, the lengthy absence was due to the changing of Temple presidents, with Adamany succeeding former Temple President Peter Liacouras last May.

Schwartz's appointment capped a national year-long search for a provost.

Hired as the Social Work dean in 1993, Schwartz helped increase the school's endowment from $1 million to more than $11 million, while growing its research grants from $200,000 to $4.4 million.

The school was ranked 11th nationally in the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings of social work schools.

According to Schwartz, the challenge of Temple attracted him to his new North Philadelphia post.

"I'm a builder, and I like to build strong academic programs," Schwartz said. "The challenge of building a strong academic program is what attracted me to Temple."

His priorities as provost will be to bolster Temple's 17 schools, in addition to increasing research and improving its laboratories.

According to Barchi, departures by prominent faculty and administrators is a testament to Penn's prominence.

"It is a tribute to Penn and the quality of our faculty and our leadership that we are constantly the target of recruitment efforts by other schools -- they know we have the best people and dearly want to hire them," he said.

"It's like a baseball team -- when you put together the best team, everybody else wants your franchise players," Barchi added.

Schwartz was contacted last year by a national search firm hired by Temple. He responded to the search and was invited to interview with Temple's president and other administrators.

While Schwartz had been the target of other searches in the past few years, he turned down those that came his way.

"While staying in Philadelphia had a bearing on my decision, what ultimately attracted me was the challenge," Schwartz said.

However, Schwartz will always value his time at Penn.

"I'm leaving with mixed emotions, frankly," he said. "It's a great opportunity personally, but I have come to love Penn. Penn is a very special place."

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