The search is on.
As announced last Monday, Richard Beeman, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, will be leaving for Oxford this summer and replaced by current Associate Dean of Arts and Letters Rebecca Bushnell.
But administrators say they still have not found anyone to fill Bushnell's role once she steps up as dean in July.
"We're still in discussion about that," Bushnell said. "All the deans are."
School of Arts and Sciences Dean Samuel Preston said he plans to find a replacement as soon as possible.
"I would imagine we would have an announcement in January," he said. "We're just beginning the process. We were really fully engaged in the effort of finding a replacement for Rick."
Both Bushnell and Preston emphasized that Bushnell's replacement will be a Penn faculty member who has shown dedication to teaching and research.
"We will not go outside. It's too important to know the institutional culture to succeed in this job," Preston said, adding that he would select the dean from one of the humanities departments, since those are the ones most relevant to the position.
Bushnell said that as associate dean, her job involves overseeing the faculty and budget issues for all of the humanities departments, including English, art history, philosophy and music, but excluding history.
"I will appoint [Bushnell's] successor after a good deal of consultation with other deans, department chairs and significant faculty members within the school," Preston said. "I am going to be doing the consulting myself. I am looking for just the right person."
Preston described the ideal candidate as "somebody who recognizes the importance of both scholarship and teaching in faculty retention and recruitment, someone who is a good listener and diplomatic, someone who is very public-spirited and interested in the success of programs in the school, somebody who's willing to put in the very large amounts of time and effort required to make a success of this position."
Administrators are looking for "somebody just like Rebecca," he added. "She did a fabulous job."
Bushnell said she also had some specific qualities in mind for her replacement.
"We'll be looking for someone with interdisciplinary interests, someone who's looking to build the future of the humanities, someone who really has a vision of the humanities at Penn, both in research and in teaching," Bushnell said. She added that only full professors would be considered for the position.
The new associate dean also needs to be someone who has demonstrated a strong ability to work well with others, administrators said.
"It has to be someone who has the respect of the faculty, since the person's primary responsibility is working with faculty and chairs," Bushnell said.
Bushnell said that despite her excitement about moving into her new position, she is sad to leave her associate deanship behind.
"It's a wonderful job. I love this job," she said. "I'm going to really miss it."
This will be the third major appointment Preston has made during his tenure as SAS dean. He appointed Bushnell to her current position five years ago after about a month-long search process. He also appointed a new associate dean for social sciences, Eugene Narmour, who assumed his position earlier this year.
This article identified the associate dean for the social sciences as Eugene Narmour. In fact, the dean is Herbert Smith.
