Samuel Preston will end his seven-year term as dean of the School of Arts and Sciences in December, he announced yesterday.
"It has been an extraordinary privilege to serve the faculty, students, staff and alumni of the [s]chool," Preston wrote in an e-mail to faculty members. "I look forward with pleasure to serving a final year as dean and returning to scholarship and teaching in the Sociology Department and the Population Studies Center."
Preston said that though he planned to leave his position earlier, he delayed his departure at the request of University President Judith Rodin.
"I learned last May that Judy Rodin was leaving," Preston said. "We both thought it was a good idea if I hung in there longer."
Preston, who has been a faculty member since 1979, plans to take a year off during which he will perform research in demography. He will conduct the research primarily at Penn, and hopes to return to the classroom in fall 2005.
"It's an all-consuming job," Preston said of the deanship. "I have been eager to return to teaching and research."
Administrators who worked closely with Preston were quick to compliment both his scholarly pursuits and his personal and professional attitude.
"Sam Preston has left an indelible stamp on the School of Arts and Sciences," College Dean Rebecca Bushnell said in an e-mail interview. "Perhaps one of his greatest strengths as a leader is his strong belief in academic values combined with an ability to implement his vision."
"He also has a wicked sense of humor -- a necessary quality for anyone in academic administration," Bushnell added.
University Provost Robert Barchi agreed that Preston's presence as dean will be sorely missed.
"I personally am very disappointed that I will not be able to continue working with him," Barchi said. "I consider Sam to be one of the very best academic leaders with whom I've had the pleasure of working in my career."
However, Barchi stressed that Preston's continued presence as a professor will be a valuable asset to the University.
Sociology professor Herbert Smith, associate dean for the social sciences, also works closely with Preston.
"Sam's a very fun guy to be around -- he enjoys his work, he enjoys life," Smith said. "Sam's a great scientist, he's a great scholar, he's good with people."
"He's a wonderful leader -- he leads by example," Smith added. "It's a pleasure to work with him."
During his term, Preston focused on undergraduate education and teaching quality, working to build an exceptional faculty and develop their teaching ability.
"I think that the process of building the faculty has been the most gratifying part of my deanship," Preston said. "I think in the process of recruiting faculty, we have made teaching an unusually important part of the process."
During his tenure, 181 new standing faculty have been appointed, and there was a 42 percent increase in fully endowed chairs. In addition, Preston worked to improve the physical facilities of the School of Arts and Sciences, including Williams Hall and the upcoming renovations of Bennett Hall. The school's endowment and annual research funding have also seen dramatic increases over the past seven years.
"I think [Preston] transformed the School of Arts and Sciences in a way that made it the core of the University," Rodin said. "He had great leadership skills, he had wonderful management skills, and so he was able to develop the vision and then the resources to put the School of Arts and Sciences into its current wonderful shape."
Despite all of Preston's contributions, administrators -- including Preston himself -- are quick to assure that the School of Arts and Sciences will maintain and build upon its current successes.
"I believe the school is in quite good shape, and there should be an easy transition to the next dean," Preston said.
Bushnell agreed.
"He has set SAS on such a solid foundation and with such a clear direction for the future that it will certainly survive his stepping down from the deanship," Bushnell said, though she noted that "those who have worked with him closely over the past six years will miss him acutely -- and that certainly includes me."
Administrators will now work to name a search committee charged with finding Preston's replacement.
Staff reporter Alex Dubilet contributed to this report.
