President Shirley Ann Jackson has initiated a national search for the position of Dean of the School of Science. The dean is responsible for leading the School of Science into national and international prominence through the pursuit of excellence in trending research and academic scholarship.

Earlier this summer, she announced that the following members of the faculty have agreed to serve as members of the Core Recruitment Committee:

• Jonathan Dordick (co-chair), vice president for research and the Howard P. Isermann Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

• Mary Simoni (co-chair), dean of the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

• Jonas Braasch, associate professor of architecture and director of the Center for Communications, Culture & Cognition; Selmer Bringsjord, professor and department head, Cognitive Science

• Steven Cramer, professor and William Walker Chair, Chemical and Biological Engineering; Susan Gilbert, professor and department head, Biology

• Isom Herron, professor of mathematical sciences

• Robert Linhardt, constellation chair and professor of chemistry and chemical biology

• Thiagaraga (Ravi) Ravichandran, professor of management

• Gwo Ching Wang, professor of, physics, applied physics and astronomy

According to President Jackson, while the Core Recruitment Committee will have the principal responsibility of identifying the highest quality candidates for this position, “the efforts of the entire Rensselaer community are needed to attract the best candidates. I enlist your assistance in this most important process.” Submit suggestions or nominations of candidates for this position to Vice President Dordick or Dean Simoni.

She has asked Curtis Powell, vice president for human resources, to work with the committee to present a slate of unranked candidates during the upcoming 2014 fall semester.