Smith to replace Malkiel as dean of the college

Smith served as the founding director of the University’s Center for African American Studies from 2006 to 2009 and is credited with expanding its interdisciplinary curriculum and role in Princeton’s liberal arts education. She was awarded the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2009, which recognizes excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching by Princeton faculty members.

“I was thrilled, honored and humbled,” Smith said of her initial reaction when she was notified last Wednesday of her selection as dean of the college, the senior officer responsible for overseeing the University’s academic program.

Regarding her future status as the highest-ranking African-American administrator, Smith said, “I can’t deny that the fact will have significant impact for a whole host of constituencies. To the extent that it will be meaningful to others, it will also be meaningful for me.”

President Shirley Tilghman explained that she personally selected Smith after interviewing all of the finalists. “She is a very distinguished scholar, with the respect of the faculty” and a “marvelous administrator,” Tilghman said, stressing Smith’s “connection and empathy for students.”

Malkiel echoed Tilghman’s enthusiasm, calling Smith a “wonderful scholar and teacher.”

A committee of six faculty members and two undergraduates was launched to find a successor for Malkiel after she announced her retirement in September. Malkiel, who is stepping down after 24 years in the position, is the University’s longest serving dean of the college.

“We began by gathering opinion about the needs of this campus and what kind of dean people are looking for,” explained Provost Christopher Eisgruber ’83, who led the search committee. “We had a strong field of candidates, including both internal and external candidates.” He declined to say how many candidates were considered.

Smith said the selection process involved several rounds of interviews that continually narrowed down the candidate pool.

“The first round, we met with half the members of the selection committee. The second round, we met with the entire committee,” she explained. The finalists had hour-long interviews with pairs of senior administrators.

Eisgruber cited Smith’s personable nature, her commitment to the values of a higher liberal arts education, her involvement in the growth of the University’s African American studies program, and her ability to collaborate with students and faculty as qualities that ultimately led to her selection.

Smith’s appointment was announced weeks ahead of schedule. The search committee originally intended to choose a successor by the end of January.

“To be honest, we worked very hard, which is why we were able to accomplish it in such a tight schedule. I think we did a very thorough job,” said Veronica Shi ’11, one of the search committee’s two student representatives.

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The transition will begin in January and Smith will retain her full-time faculty position for the remainder of the academic year.

“My intention is to be as helpful to Professor Smith as possible in familiarizing her with the work of the dean’s office,” Malkiel said. “I would anticipate that she will spend some time attending standing committee and staff meetings; some time meeting individually with deans, office heads, and residential college masters; and some talking with me.”

Smith said she is interested in enhancing opportunities for undergraduates to go abroad and in improving the sense of community within residential colleges.

She also wants to further encourage the development of a sense of civic responsibility within the student body.

“There are so many pressures facing undergraduates now that it often challenges their ability to maintain balance in their lives,” Smith said. “I want to ensure that the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students is working to really help students learn how to be responsible for themselves and the people with whom they work and the spaces within which they live. Their academic and their social lives are intimately bound up with each other.”

As Smith begins her transition, there will undoubtedly be interest in her stance on grade deflation, a controversial policy most closely associated with her predecessor.

Smith declined to comment on whether she would alter grade deflation until she had the opportunity to study the policy from her viewpoint as dean, but she offered her perspective as a faculty member.

“Faculty and students alike often feel like the changes in the grade policy have had the effect of ensuring that the quality of work that precedes letter grades has been increasingly consistent across the campus, but I am also aware of the fact that some are concerned [about] its effect on future competitiveness.”

Malkiel is most well-known among undergraduates and recent alumni as the architect of the grading policy, introduced in 2004, which seeks to limit the number of A’s that can be awarded by each department. During her lengthy tenure as dean, Malkiel also oversaw other impactful projects such as the launch of the four-year residential college system; a review of distribution requirements; and the creation of the Writing Program, the Freshman Seminar Program, and the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning.

Malkiel cited the opportunity to work with University community members to “strengthen what is already the best undergraduate education offered by any university” as the highlight of her tenure.

In reflecting on her work, Malkiel offered a key piece of advice for her successor: to enjoy the post. “The deanship is, in my judgment, the best job in the University,” she said.

After stepping down in June, Malkiel intends to take time off to write a book before returning to the University’s history department.

“I will begin working on a book on the history of coeducation at Princeton, set in the context of coeducation at our sister institutions and women’s education at the women’s colleges,” Malkiel said. When she returns to teach, Malkiel also hopes to lead a freshman seminar on coeducation.

Staff writer Sherene Agama contributed reporting.

Correction: This article has been updated to indicate that Valerie Smith will be one of the highest-ranking African-American administrators in University history.