Dean

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Burlington, VT

The University of Vermont (UVM) seeks an accomplished, inspiring academic leader to serve as Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (the College). This is an exceptional opportunity to lead a vital academic unit distinctive for its “cells to society” approach to agriculture and the sciences. The College also serves as the primary hub of the University’s land-grant and outreach missions.

The College offers dynamic programs that span the social to life sciences and prepare students to tackle some of society’s most critical issues: healthy food systems, environmentally sound agricultural enterprises, policies and practices that sustain rural communities, and the use of modern molecular and cellular biology to improve quality of life. Its diverse physical resources, including research stations, farms, and horticultural facilities, are integral to the College and University’s research enterprise. The College is involved in a wide range of interdisciplinary activities across the institution and is home to the Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station and UVM Extension, with offices around the state. The College takes full advantage of Vermont’s unique position to serve as a living laboratory for the agriculture and life sciences of the future.

Enrolling close to 1,400 undergraduate students and 120 graduate students, the College offers 17 undergraduate majors, 18 minors, and 18 concentrations through 6 departments: Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Community Development and Applied Economics, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Nutrition and Food Sciences, Plant Biology, and Plant and Soil Science. The College’s general fund budget is $19.7M. As chief academic and administrative officer, the Dean reports directly to the Provost and Senior Vice President and is responsible for leading the 70 faculty members and 170 research, program, and administrative staff, including a strong and accomplished leadership team, that comprise the College and UVM Extension.

The successful candidate will be responsible for developing a vision for the College and its role in supporting research, teaching, and outreach activities, and for constructing a clear narrative about its evolving identity. The new Dean will also champion interdisciplinary activity and the development of innovative, high impact academic programs. They will serve as the face of the institution across the state and will engage supporters to fund new and ongoing activity, as well as the College’s physical resources. The next Dean will also continue to build a diverse community working to recruit and retain outstanding students and high-performing faculty from all backgrounds.

UVM seeks a new Dean excited by the broad scope of the College’s activity and the opportunity to lead it into the future, combined with a deep commitment to the University’s land-grant mission. The ideal candidate will bring intellectual breadth, strong emotional intelligence, and a record of academic achievement at a research university, combined with success in administrative management, including strategic planning and fiscal oversight. In addition, they will have proven ability to foster interdisciplinary activity, work collaboratively to promote institutional goals, and the appetite to engage in fundraising efforts with a range of public and private sources. Candidates will also bring the capacity to focus the collective energy of the College community and to make hard decisions when necessary. The academic credentials in a relevant discipline and an outstanding record of teaching and scholarship to qualify for full professor with tenure at UVM are required.

UVM is one of the nation’s premier small public research universities and the only high research university in Vermont. Enrolling close to 13,000 students, including more than 10,500 undergraduate and 1,500 graduate students, 450 medical students, 22 post-baccalaureate certificate students, and 720 non-degree students, the University combines the teaching and faculty-student relationships typically found at a liberal arts college with the scholarship and resources of a major research institution. Its single campus is home to seven undergraduate schools and colleges, an honors college, graduate college, medical school, and a division of continuing and distance education. UVM has attracted an increasingly distinguished faculty and has a growing research enterprise, with $136M of sponsored projects in fiscal year 2018. The campus spans Burlington’s highest ridgeline overlooking Lake Champlain, between the Adirondack and Green Mountains, and is surrounded by the small, historic city of Burlington, perennially voted one of America's best places to live.

The University is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through their research, teaching, and/or service. Applicants are requested to include in their cover letter information about their track record in this area and how they will further this goal at the University of Vermont.

Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, has been retained UVM to assist in this important search. Please direct all inquiries (including requests for a detailed position profile), nominations, referrals, and CVs with cover letters in confidence to:

Greg Esposito, Partner

Sarah Herman, Managing Associate

Caitlin Barrett, Senior Associate

Isaacson, Miller

263 Summer Street, 7^th Floor

Boston, MA 02210

www.imsearch.com/6848

Electronic submission of materials is strongly encouraged.

The University of Vermont is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other category legally protected by federal or state law. The University encourages applications from all individuals who will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the institution.