Radcliffe Gushes Over Faust

At a few minutes past two thirty yesterday afternoon, staff members of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study streamed out of the buildings in Radcliffe Yard and filed up the steps to Agassiz Theatre for a formal introduction to Drew Gilpin Faust, the first permanent dean of the Institute.

Her appointment was publicly announced on Sunday by University President Neil L. Rudenstine.

In her short address--the whole event lasted just over twenty minutes--Faust expressed enthusiasm about the task of shaping the Institute's intellectual and programmatic agenda.

"We are charged with a mission that will take on us a great adventure," Faust said. "[Part of that adventure] will be enshrining the most powerful traditions of Radcliffe College, namely the advancement of women."

Faust said that she plans to be very involved with Radcliffe in the coming months, though she will not officially assume the post of dean until January 1, 2001.

"The time offers an opportunity for exploration and investigation," she said.

Yesterday's gathering in Agassiz was the first chance for Faust to meet the Institute community as a whole.

Mary Maples Dunn, acting dean of the Institute, was the first speaker at the event.

"This is the moment we've all been waiting for, the moment the most vital piece is put in place for the Radcliffe Institute," Dunn said.

Rudenstine was next in line, and detailed Faust's credentials--both professional and personal.

Faust is Annenberg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania and has served as director of their Women's Studies program since 1996. She will receive tenure in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in addition to becoming dean of the Institute.

"[Faust] has an exceptional leadership capacity," Rudenstine said. "She's generous and approachable."

Rudenstine also said Faust's ideas about Radcliffe were similar to his and the dean selection advisory committees' vision of the future of the Institute.

"What we wanted to do coincided ultimately with what she wanted to do as well," he said.

Henry Louis Gates Jr., DuBois professor of the humanities, slipped into the theater just as the festivities began. University Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67 was seated in the front row of the theater, next to Nancy-Beth G. Sheerr '71--a principal negotiator of last fall's merger agreement between Radcliffe College and Harvard.

When Rudenstine introduced Faust to the group, Fineberg stood up as applause rippled through the crowd, and the rest of the audience quickly followed Fineberg's example, giving Faust a standing ovation before she spoke a word.

Faust told the audience she was looking forward to living in Greenleaf House, a home Radcliffe presidents traditionally occupied.

"For a historian, the prospect of sleeping 50 yards from the Schlesinger Library was just too wonderful to pass up," she said.

A larger red Radcliffe banner hung above the speaking podium at yesterday's event, and the Agassiz stage was flanked with urns of flowers--pink hydrangeas, fuchsia azaleas and branches of pussy willow.

Dunn said she expected the coming months of transition to go smoothly.

"We know each other so well, we find it very easy to talk and discuss," Dunn said.

Dunn was Faust's professor when she was an undergraduate at Bryn Mawr in the 1960's.

Faust's brief remarks--indeed her very presence--elicited gushing enthusiasm from Radcliffe staffers.

"[The dean's appointment] gives us a focus, an intellectual center," said Tamar March, dean for educational programs at Radcliffe. "Now there's someone in authority to ask questions about programming."

"Dunn did not want to impede the [permanent] dean, when it came to making decisions about the future. But that became an impediment of sorts to us," March added.

Bonnie Clendenning, dean for external relations at Radcliffe, said she liked of Faust's poise in front of an audience.

" She can obviously work a crowd," Clendenning said.

Clendenning said Faust's personable manner will also be a plus when dealing with alumnae groups--especially when asking for donations to the Institute.

Chair of the Radcliffe College Alumna Association (RCAA), A'Lelia P. Bundles '74, said she expected to have a good working relationship with Faust, though the two have not yet met.

"I'm looking forward to having a meeting with her, letting her know what RCAA is... interested in," Bundles said. "I'm hopeful we'll have a very positive relationship."

Faust has had a busy few days in Cambridge, including a Sunday evening dinner with the Board of Overseers and a meeting yesterday with Radcliffe's program directors.