Comments Sought in Regular Review of Provost

A university committee is seeking comments as part of a regular performance review of Provost Sally Kornbluth. Reviews of senior administrators are typically conducted in the fourth year of a five-year term, and the results compiled in a confidential report. This will be the first such review for Kornbluth, who has served as provost since 2014.

President Vincent E. Price asked Guy-Uriel Charles, senior associate dean for Faculty & Research, to chair the committee. Other members are: Emily Bernhardt (Biology), Kyle Cavanaugh (Administration), Henri Gavin (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Thomas Gorrie (Trustee), Stephen Lisberger (Neurobiology), Paul McClain (The Graduate School), Mark Anthony Neal (African and African American Studies), and Helen Solterer (Romance Studies).

Sally Kornbluth became provost in July 2014. As the university's chief academic officer, she has broad responsibility for leading Duke's schools and institutes, as well as admissions, financial aid, libraries, information technology and all other facets of the university's academic life.

Kornbluth has been a member of the Duke faculty since 1994, and prior to becoming provost, she served as vice dean for basic sciences at the School of Medicine. Last year, Kornbluth introduced a new academic strategic plan called Together Duke, the first in over a decade. The plan focuses on building and empowering faculty, with an emphasis on enhancing diversity and inclusion and on building strength in the sciences. She has also guiding the ongoing development of Duke Kunshan University, which is poised to launch a four-year undergraduate degree program in the fall of 2018. Kornbluth has also made significant faculty hires, including new deans for the College of Arts & Sciences, Pratt School of Engineering, Divinity School, the Nicholas School of the Environment, and the Law School.

An important part of the review process is the gathering of opinions from the university’s many constituencies.  Comments on performance and suggestions for the future are important to the committee’s work. Communication should include the nature of interactions with Kornbluth and her team so that the committee can best understand the context of the comments. 

The committee will discuss responses and a summary will be included in the written report to the president. The committee will hold all communications in strict confidence.

Comments should be submitted by March 2. Please send any communications to:

Guy-Uriel Charles, Chair
Provost Review Committee
Box 90030
Durham, North Carolina 27708
admin-review@duke.edu