Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel to step down

Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel will retire from her post at the end of the 2010-11 academic year, the University announced last week.

Malkiel is widely known among current undergraduates and recent alumni as the architect of the University’s controversial grading policy, which set guidelines to limit the number of A grades that can be awarded to undergraduates in each department. Yet during her 24 years as dean, Malkiel oversaw the implementation of many other developments that make Princeton recognizable today.

“She’s had such an impact on so many different things within the purview of the Dean of the College’s office,” University President Shirley Tilghman said. “If I go all the way up to 30,000 feet, I would say the two things that are most significant are the creation of the residential college system, and the focus that brought on the quality of life for students at Princeton. The second would be the absolutely consistent attention she gave to the quality of a Princeton education.”

While Tilghman said that the four-year residential college system was the “capstone” of Malkiel’s career, she explained that Malkiel’s devotion to the undergraduate experience also came through in other developments that occurred during her tenure, such as the creation of the Writing Program, the Freshman Seminar Program, and the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning; the review of distribution requirements for graduation; and her commitment to “maintaining a very high standard for what we do in the classroom at Princeton.”

University Provost Christopher Eisgruber ’83, who serves as Malkiel's supervisor, agreed that one of her culminating achievements was the development of the four-year residential college system, an initiative which she took “from infancy to maturity.”

“It’s hard to pick just one,” he said of her long series of accomplishments. “I’m not sure I have enough perspective across her extensive deanship to be able to do that ... It’s really hard to focus on just one thing.”

Malkiel herself also said she couldn’t choose just one achievement that stood out in her career as dean. “I don’t think I need to choose one after 24 years there,” she explained, citing the creation of the residential college system as one in a series of standout successes. “I think ... [they’re] all worthy of attention.”

Despite her long string of achievements, Malkiel’s decision to step down comes at a controversial point in her deanship. One of her newer projects, grade deflation, is still raising commotion within both the undergraduate and alumni communities. At a debate sponsored by Whig-Clio last December, at which Malkiel was the guest of honor, the nearly 100 students who attended the event voted overwhelmingly against the University’s grading policy. In 2008, the student publication the Princeton Tory started a rumor that Malkiel had been fired, which the University denied. The Tory later apologized.

Yet, according to Malkiel, nearly a quarter of a century simply seemed like a good point to end on. “Twenty-four years is a very long time,” she said. “There had to be an endpoint to this deanship.” Malkiel’s 24-year deanship is exceeded only by that of Andrew Fleming West, who served as dean of the Graduate School from 1901 to 1928.

“My impression is that she has done a lot, she has brought initiatives to maturity, and she thought this was a good time to lead a transition that would be smooth and would enable people to learn from what she’s done,” Eisgruber explained.

Eisgruber will chair the committee to find Malkiel’s replacement, whom he said he hopes to be able to name by January. Though the members of the committee have not yet been chosen and the process is still in its “very early” stages, Eisgruber said, the committee will likely be made up of 10 members, including himself, Vice Provost Kathy Rohrer, six faculty members and two undergraduates. One undergraduate will be appointed by the USG, he explained, while one will be independently selected.

Eisgruber also said that it is too early to know what direction the search committee will take when looking for Malkiel’s replacement.

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“We will look for the best dean of the college that we can find ... I think someone who’s coming in will want to build on the foundation that Dean Malkiel has laid for them and will also want to bring their own personal vision to the job,” he explained. He also noted that “you want somebody who cares deeply about the students. You want somebody with visionary leadership, with administrative skills and with deep regard for scholarly values.”

Malkiel, who arrived on campus at the start of coeducation as the University’s first female history professor in 1969, will take a year’s leave before returning to her teaching and scholarship work in the history department. She plans to write a book on coeducation at Princeton and to teach a freshman seminar on the topic in fall 2012.