Emory University Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Badia Ahad announced the formal beginning of the search for the next dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (ECAS) on Jan. 29 in an email to the Emory community. According to the email, Ahad will co-chair the committee with Professor of Biology Robert Liu. In her email, Ahad wrote that Emory hopes to appoint a new dean by the start of the Fall 2026 semester.
The announcement comes after the resignation of former ECAS Dean Barbara Krauthamer, who stepped down for “personal reasons” on Jan. 2 after serving for nearly four years in the role. Ahad appointed Interim Dean Joseph Crespino to lead ECAS until the University chooses a permanent dean.
The search committee roster includes faculty, staff, students and alumni. Ahad also announced that the University will partner with Isaacson, Miller, an executive search firm that has helped more than 4,000 other universities in leadership searches.
Additionally, Ahad announced through email on Jan. 30 that the University has established a Search Advisory Committee to select a dean for the Goizueta Business School. Goizueta Dean Gareth James, who joined Emory in 2022, will step down from his position this summer. The committee will be co-chaired by Senior Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Engagement Josh Newton and Goizueta Endowed Chair in Electronic Commerce and Professor of Information Systems and Operations Management Anandhi Bharadwaj.
Ahad also mentioned that Emory has partnered with Russell Reynolds Associates, an executive search firm, to guide the University through the Goizueta search process.
The departures of Krauthamer and Gareth follow larger leadership turnover within the University’s senior administration. In comparison with peer institutions, Emory has had a significantly lower dean retention rate. Currently, ECAS, Oxford College and the Nell Hodgson School of Nursing deans are serving in interim roles. The Candler School of Theology and Goizueta Business School will also need to search for new leaders in the coming months.
Ahad highlighted the importance of the ECAS deanship in her message to the community.
“The deanship is a critical leadership role for a college that is central to Emory’s identity and our desire to build upon our strengths as a leading liberal arts university,” Ahad wrote.
Siya Kumar (she/her) (28C) is a news editor at The Emory Wheel. She is from New Orleans, La., majoring in Economics and Creative Writing on the pre-law track. Outside of the Wheel, Kumar is a market news analyst for the Emory Economics Investment Forum and a writer for the Emory Economics Review. She loves baking, reading, and drinking coffee.
