Case named interim dean

While Case’s position is temporary, the school has formed a committee to choose a permanent successor for Paxson, who was named the 19th president of Brown University in March.

When Paxson’s departure was announced, Tilghman said the search committee intended to choose a new dean by the end of July. If the school had not chosen a new dean by that point, then the University would appoint an interim replacement, Tilghman explained.

But just one month later, with over two months until Tilghman’s deadline, Case was appointed to the position.

Case has been affiliated with the Wilson School since earning an MPA from the school in 1983. Five years later, she received a Ph.D. in economics at Princeton and joined the faculty three years later. Case currently serves as the associate chair of the economics department and director of the Research Program in Development Studies at the Wilson School.

Case said in an interview that she was “hugely honored” to be asked to serve as interim dean by Tilghman. She further expressed her intentions to follow through with Paxson’s initiatives to overhaul the current undergraduate program.

“I’m a real, firm believer in the school,” Case said. “[The Wilson School is] in the period right now of curricular change, especially for the undergraduate program. I’m really looking forward to helping shepherd this process, improving on the work that was initiated under Dean Paxson; so it seemed like a time when it was important to step up and serve,” she explained.

Since her appointment as dean in 2009, Paxson has overseen several major changes to the undergraduate major, including the decision to abandon selective admission to the concentration.

Case called the developments to the undergraduate program “the evolution of change.”

“We’re going to try things, we’ll see how they work,” she said. “There will have to be some tinkering, but certainly, Vice Dean Stephen Kotkin has worked very hard to put into place next year a whole new set of courses to offer to the undergraduates,” Case explained.

Wilson School professor David Lee, who leads the Dean Search Committee, said in an email that the search committee was uninvolved with the search for an interim dean, explaining that the committee’s role is to choose a permanent replacement for Paxson.

“I believe the choice of interim dean and vice dean was a decision made by Nassau Hall,” he noted. “Of course, it is not a surprise that Nassau Hall planned to have an interim dean,” he added.

He said the search committee is currently reaching out to faculty, students and administrators from peer schools with public policy departments for suggestions on the selection.

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Tilghman noted in the announcement that she was thankful that Case stepped up to serve as interim dean.

“I am deeply grateful to Anne for her willingness to provide steady leadership while we conduct a search for a permanent dean,” she said.

Case said she was asked to serve as interim dean just a few days ago. She explained that due to Paxson’s departure in July, a replacement had to accept the position quickly.

“Dean Paxson will become President Paxson, and it’s very important that this did happen quickly so that, for example, I would have the chance to shadow her and make sure that when she hands me the baton, I don’t drop it,” she said.

Case and Paxson have worked together both as economists and as administrators within the Wilson School. In August 2006, the two economists published a research paper called “Stature and Status: Height, Ability and Labor Market Outcomes” which demonstrated that taller people tend to also be smarter. Their study was featured in the New York Times, which noted that the study was “reverberating” in the field.

The current dean and her successor also share similar backgrounds in economics; while Case currently serves as Associate Chair of Economics, Paxson chaired the department from 2008 to 2009 before being named dean of the Wilson School.

In addition, Brandice Canes-Wrone, a professor in the politics department and the Wilson School and the faculty chair of the Wilson School undergraduate program, will serve as acting vice dean of the school while Kotkin is on sabbatical next year.

Kotkin said in an email that Case’s appointment was “fortunate” as the Wilson School could now conduct a search for the permanent dean in a “deliberate fashion.”

Kotkin, who has worked closely with Case this year, praised the appointment.

“She knows the School really well. She is a star teacher, a first-class researcher, an experienced administrator and a joy as a colleague,” he said.

Last year, Case received the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.

“Her students say, ‘When I grow up, I want to be Anne Case.’ Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, we know these statements testify to her prowess as a teacher,” the award citation read.