Herbst '83 to become provost at Miami U.

Politics department chair Jeffrey Herbst '83 will leave the University next year to become provost of Miami University in Ohio.

Herbst, who is on leave this year working on a research project, called Miami's offer a "tremendous opportunity."

"I've enjoyed working and teaching at Princeton, and remain a proud member of the great class of '83, but this was the best decision for me professionally and for my family," he said.

Though Herbst had been "talking with" Miami for several months, he received the official offer two weeks ago and accepted earlier this week, he said.

He added that he had considered leaving the University before he heard from Miami, but the offer's attractiveness was his main reason for departing.

"The position's a very attractive one," he said. "[Miami has] 21,000 students, and they've made some impressive decisions about financing and curriculum . . . they have an ambitious set of goals for their bicentennial in 2009."

Miami University President Jim Garland '64 said in an interview Thursday he was delighted that Herbst had accepted the offer.

"We conducted a national search [for a new provost], and he was the leading candidate," Garland said. "We were impressed by his scholarly reputation, his commitment to undergraduate education, and his reputation for . . . fairness at Princeton."

In searching for a new provost, Garland said, his administration looked for "good academic values, high standards and evenhandedness." Herbst's successful track record of expanding international studies at Princeton was another aspect of his appeal, he said.

"We would definitely like to do the same thing," Garland said, noting that Miami already has a campus in Europe and offers "programs in dozens of other countries."

As an alumnus, Garland said he "know[s] Princeton very well" but had not met Herbst before beginning the search for a new provost.

"I'm looking forward to working with him," he said. "I think we'll have a terrific time together."

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As news of Herbst's departure spread, his colleagues at the University said he would be sorely missed.

"Jeff has been a simply wonderful colleague and an indispensable co-recruiter," Wilson School Dean Anne-Marie Slaughter '80 said in an email.

"All of us at the Woodrow Wilson School will miss him very much, but he has proved himself a terrific administrator as chair of politics and is more than up to his new challenge," she said.

Acting politics department chair Nancy Bermeo could not be reached for comment.

Politics instructor Kristopher Ramsay, who was recruited last year by Herbst, expressed similar sentiments.

"He was a very nice guy, and made me feel very welcome," Ramsay said, explaining that Herbst recruited him when he was a Ph.D. student at the University of Rochester. "The department will be the worse without him, but I'm happy for him."

Since he became politics chair in 2000, Herbst has been known for his aggressive efforts to hire new faculty members and increase the department's prominence.

He has also published three books and won a prestigious Guggenheim fellowship in 2004 for his research on African states. He specializes in African politics, economic policymaking in the third world and international political economy.