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Provost Announces Search Committee for New Divinity Dean

Ellen Davis to chair 13-member committee

Divinity professor Ellen Davis will chair a committee
searching for the new Divinity School dean to replace Richard Hays, whose
two-year term as Divinity dean will end with the 2011-2012 academic year.

Duke Provost Peter Lange last week announced formation of a 13-person
committee to lead the national search. He charged the committee to look
internally and externally for candidates who will be:

  • an
    intellectual leader among the faculty, who can be expected to have the highest
    aspirations in faculty hiring and retention,
  • an
    energetic and conscientious administrator broadly familiar with issues in
    higher education,
  • a
    strong advocate for the Divinity School and its teaching and research mission,
    in the context of the university's strategic commitment to interdisciplinarity,
  • a
    strong proponent for a diverse faculty and student body,
  • an
    effective fund-raiser,
  • a
    preeminent university citizen,
  • an
    effective shepherd of the Divinity School's continuing relationship to the
    United Methodist Church,
  • and
    a person committed to the importance of Christian ministry, lay and ordained,
    with an ability to relate to diverse Christian traditions and other religious
    faiths.  

"Richard Hays is doing a superb job as dean,"
Lange said. "With his announced intention to step down in June 2012, now
is the time to identify excellent leadership, able to guide the Divinity School
in its core mission while working seamlessly with the rest of Duke in advancing
the university's priorities. This is the critical task of the committee. 
Its membership, combined with Professor Davis' leadership, promises to identify
candidates of the highest caliber."

In addition to Davis,
the Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology,
the committee members are:

Melanie Bonner,
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science; J. Kameron Carter, Associate Professor in Theology and Black
Church Studies; Elizabeth Clark,
John Carlisle Kilgo Professor of Religion; Paul
Griffiths
, Warren Chair of Catholic Theology; Richard Hays, Dean of the Divinity School and George Washington
Ivey Professor of New Testament; Anathea
Portier-Young
, Associate Professor of Old Testament; Maureen Quilligan, R. Florence Brinkley Professor of English; Hope Morgan Ward, Bishop, Mississippi
Conference, United Methodist Church, and Duke Trustee; and Sam Wells, Dean of the Chapel, as well as Vice
Provost Nancy Allen, Nursing Dean Catherine Gilliss and Vice President for
Institutional Equity Benjamin Reese who will serve as ex-officio members of the
search committee.

Lange asked the committee to make recommendations by Jan. 17,
2012.

Hays was inducted as Divinity dean this past fall.  He succeeded Gregory Jones, who was
named Duke's vice president and vice provost for global strategy and programs.

All nominations should be sent electronically to Susan F.
Booth, Program Coordinator, Office of the Provost, Duke University at susan.booth@duke.edu.  Emails should include the subject line:
Divinity Dean Search. All attachments must be accompanied by a text message in
the body of the email including the name of the individual submitting the
nomination. 

Additional information can be found at http://divinity.duke.edu/dean-search.