Our New SVP and Dean for Academic Affairs
Dear faculty, students, and staff,
I am writing with the happy news that Rachel J. Beane, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Natural Sciences, has agreed to serve as Bowdoin’s next Senior Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs. Her four-year appointment will begin on July 1, 2026. I look forward to working closely with her as she takes on this important responsibility.
As a highly regarded geologist who studies the processes that have shaped our earth, Rachel is a distinguished scholar and teacher whose work reflects deep expertise paired with curiosity, connection, and a commitment to student learning. She brings to this role a strong understanding of Bowdoin’s academic culture, a record of principled leadership, and a genuine care for the people and structures that sustain our academic life.
Many of you know Rachel well through her work as Associate Dean for Faculty Recruitment and Student Advising and through her longstanding engagement with faculty, departments, and programs across the College. Throughout the search process, many faculty and staff shared with the committee their deep admiration for Rachel’s judgment, her fairness, her collaborative leadership style, and her steady commitment to Bowdoin’s academic mission. Many spoke especially about her ability to listen carefully, to engage complex questions with thoughtfulness and rigor, and to move work forward in ways that build trust and shared purpose.
As the search committee solicited input from you about the qualities and experiences that you value in this role, they also heard ideas about how the Office of the Dean for Academic Affairs can best support you and advance the academic mission of the College. These conversations made clear that, over the past years, the responsibilities of the Senior Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs have expanded considerably and become increasingly complex.
This moment offers an opportunity to think intentionally and proactively about how our administrative structures can most effectively support faculty hiring, mentoring, and promotion; teaching, research and scholarship, and creative work; the academic infrastructure that enables our work; and the leadership of Bowdoin’s academic mission more broadly. I will be convening a group to explore these questions in collaboration with Jen Scanlon and Rachel Beane, with input from members of the faculty and staff, and in consultation with the Committee on Governance and Faculty Affairs over the coming months. While I do not know where these conversations will ultimately lead – whether to modest refinements or more substantial recommendations – I am confident they will be open, curious, and generative, and will result in thoughtful, community-centered decisions. I will share more about this process as it unfolds.
For now, let me express my thanks to all of you who shared your insights with the search committee, and to the committee for their careful, inclusive, and rigorous work. I am so deeply grateful to Jen, who has been and continues to be a wonderful partner to me and a strong advocate for our academic mission, and to Rachel for taking on this new role. Please join me in congratulating her.
Sincerely,
Safa
I am writing with the happy news that Rachel J. Beane, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Natural Sciences, has agreed to serve as Bowdoin’s next Senior Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs. Her four-year appointment will begin on July 1, 2026. I look forward to working closely with her as she takes on this important responsibility.
As a highly regarded geologist who studies the processes that have shaped our earth, Rachel is a distinguished scholar and teacher whose work reflects deep expertise paired with curiosity, connection, and a commitment to student learning. She brings to this role a strong understanding of Bowdoin’s academic culture, a record of principled leadership, and a genuine care for the people and structures that sustain our academic life.
Many of you know Rachel well through her work as Associate Dean for Faculty Recruitment and Student Advising and through her longstanding engagement with faculty, departments, and programs across the College. Throughout the search process, many faculty and staff shared with the committee their deep admiration for Rachel’s judgment, her fairness, her collaborative leadership style, and her steady commitment to Bowdoin’s academic mission. Many spoke especially about her ability to listen carefully, to engage complex questions with thoughtfulness and rigor, and to move work forward in ways that build trust and shared purpose.
As the search committee solicited input from you about the qualities and experiences that you value in this role, they also heard ideas about how the Office of the Dean for Academic Affairs can best support you and advance the academic mission of the College. These conversations made clear that, over the past years, the responsibilities of the Senior Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs have expanded considerably and become increasingly complex.
This moment offers an opportunity to think intentionally and proactively about how our administrative structures can most effectively support faculty hiring, mentoring, and promotion; teaching, research and scholarship, and creative work; the academic infrastructure that enables our work; and the leadership of Bowdoin’s academic mission more broadly. I will be convening a group to explore these questions in collaboration with Jen Scanlon and Rachel Beane, with input from members of the faculty and staff, and in consultation with the Committee on Governance and Faculty Affairs over the coming months. While I do not know where these conversations will ultimately lead – whether to modest refinements or more substantial recommendations – I am confident they will be open, curious, and generative, and will result in thoughtful, community-centered decisions. I will share more about this process as it unfolds.
For now, let me express my thanks to all of you who shared your insights with the search committee, and to the committee for their careful, inclusive, and rigorous work. I am so deeply grateful to Jen, who has been and continues to be a wonderful partner to me and a strong advocate for our academic mission, and to Rachel for taking on this new role. Please join me in congratulating her.
Sincerely,
Safa