Dean of the Wake Forest College of Arts and Sciences

Wake Forest University

Dean of the Wake Forest College of Arts and Sciences

Winston-Salem, NC

Wake Forest University seeks a seasoned, inspirational, and collaborative leader to serve as its next dean of the Wake Forest College of Arts and Sciences. The College is the cornerstone of Wake Forest University, the largest of the University’s schools and a thriving center of University life. The College’s 600 plus faculty members strongly affirm the enduring value of the liberal arts and sciences through their commitment to the teacher-scholar ideal and are collectively focused on the core tradition of a humanistic education, enabling students to understand – and ultimately help shape – the complexities of a rapidly changing world.

The nation’s premier collegiate university, Wake Forest is dedicated to educating the whole person and upholding the promise of its motto, Pro Humanitate – for humanity. The University is a distinctive institution, combining a rigorous academic liberal arts core for undergraduates, selective graduate and professional schools, and innovative research programs for its lively academic community of nearly 1,000 faculty, nearly 2,000 staff, and more than 8,000 students from 49 states and over 50 countries. Recognized by U.S. News as a "Top 30 National University" for 26 consecutive years, Wake Forest is committed to educating students to be bold thinkers who can address the most challenging problems of today’s world. This commitment is made manifest through the close student-faculty engagement of a residential liberal arts college with the breadth and resources of a nationally prominent research university. Additionally, the University's membership in the NCAA Division I Atlantic Coast Conference adds to both the student experience and global reputation. Wake Forest is a place where a vibrant and diverse learning community integrates the pursuit of knowledge, the enjoyment of rich personal development, and a commitment to public service.

Reporting directly to Provost Michele Gillespie, the dean is the senior executive, academic, and administrative officer of the College, responsible for overseeing the leadership, external relations, and overall administration of the College's 30 academic departments and 30 interdisciplinary programs that span the arts and sciences. The dean oversees a $190 million operating budget and has administrative direction of its community of 506 full-time faculty and 108 part-time faculty (339 tenured or tenure-track), 182 staff, and 5,472 undergraduate students on its campuses in Winston-Salem and at Wake Downtown, part of Winston Salem’s Innovation Quarter. The dean's key responsibilities are to support, strengthen, and diversify this exceptional faculty, staff, and student community while continuously enhancing the environment for teaching, research, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

The next dean of Wake Forest College will be an experienced, dynamic, collaborative, nimble leader who builds trust and community and forms strong partnerships to enhance and promote programs within and across disciplines – both within the College and in partnership with the other University deans. The dean maintains and promotes the College’s commitment to an extraordinary education, achieved through substantive student-faculty interaction in and beyond the classroom.

The successful candidate will possess a demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all its forms; deft leadership, communication, collaboration, external engagement, and creative problem-solving skills; and exceptional administrative, financial, and managerial acumen. The new dean will be an accomplished scholar, committed teacher, talented administrator, and strategic thinker with the intellect, curiosity, creativity, entrepreneurial spirit, and other personal qualities essential to growing and fostering a diverse community and guiding the College through a challenging and changing landscape in higher education.

All applications, nominations, and inquiries are invited. Applications should include, as two separate documents, a CV or resume and a letter of interest addressing the themes in the profile available at www.wittkieffer.com. Professional references are not requested at this time. WittKieffer is assisting Wake Forest University in this search. For fullest consideration, candidate materials should be received by October 17, 2022.

Application materials should be submitted using WittKieffer’s candidate portal.

Nominations and inquiries can be directed to:

Robin Mamlet, Jen Meyers Pickard, Ph.D., and Lauren Bruce-Stets
WFCollegeDean@wittkieffer.com

Wake Forest seeks to recruit and retain a diverse workforce while promoting an inclusive work environment committed to excellence. In adherence with applicable laws and as provided by University policies, the University prohibits discrimination in its employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, genetic information, disability and veteran status and encourages qualified candidates across all group demographics to apply.