Friday, President Jehuda Reinharz announced the appointment of Marty Wyngaarden Krauss, Ph.D. '81 as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs pro tempore. This follows the departure of former provost Melvin Bernstein earlier this month.As provost pro tempore, Krauss has agreed to serve as acting provost until the end of the semester. No arrangements for a search for a permanent provost have yet been made, according to John Hose, executive assistant to the president. "These matters are under consideration. (Reinharz) is weighing them, but has reached no conclusion as of yet," he said.

Krauss is the associate dean for faculty and academic programs at the Heller School. While she serves as provost pro tempore, she plans to maintain an office there. "I'm still teaching a course in the Sociology department and I still have two very active research projects, and most of the people I work with on those projects are at the Heller School, so I'll need to be back and forth," she said. "That's where my world is; where my books are, my papers."

Krauss has also moved into Bernstein's old office. Reinharz's Jan. 31 e-mail announcing Bernstein's departure said Bernstein will "assume the status of senior vice president for academic and research policy and professor of chemistry for the remainder of the spring semester." Bernstein no longer has an office on campus, and Krauss said she did not know what sort of arrangements had been made for Bernstein to provide the "consulting services for the University," as discussed in Reinharz's e-mail.

According to Prof. David Gil (HS), Bernstein was under a five-year contract with the University, but the specifics of that contract or possible settlement cannot be revealed for legal reasons. "None of these details can be made public," he said. "It would be illegal."

Krauss' appointment was officially announced on Friday, but Reinharz asked her to serve as provost pro tempore on Monday, Feb. 10. "I was very flattered and honored, and as a citizen of the University, I had a difficult time not agreeing to serve for the four months he was asking me to serve," she said.

Krauss previously reported to Jack Shankoff, dean of the Heller School. Now, in a role reversal, Shankoff, along with the deans of arts and sciences and the graduate school of international economics and finance will report to Krauss. "I think this is really not a problem at all, since I have tremendous respect for Marty Krauss and an excellent working relationship with her as a colleague for several years. I'm looking forward to working for her in her new role," he said.

Reinharz spoke at a faculty meeting on Thursday and announced Krauss' appointment there. Gil, who has worked closely with Krauss at the Heller School, was in attendance.

"No questions were asked," Gil said. "It was just a very brief announcement. I think the president made it clear that this is not a ceremonial office, but there is a real job to be done, and Marty Krauss will be expected to fill it."

Professors said they were pleased with the in-house appointment, even if it is an interim one. "It is interesting that the two times the University went outside the University for a provost, it didn't work out," Prof. Gordon Fellman (SOC) said. He was referring to Bernstein and Prof. Robert Sekular (PSYC), who came from the outside to serve as provost, but remained at Brandeis as a professor following his resignation from that position.

"From the point of view of the whole institution, it makes sense to have someone who knows the president and the faculty," Fellman said. "Krauss is really able, and it will be interesting to see her in office. Maybe she'll like it and apply for provost, as she could be a good candidate."

Krauss said she has not yet decided if she will apply for the permanent provost post. "I agreed to do this for the next four months, then we'll see where we are," she said.

Krauss said she will continue with the proposals set forth by Bernstein as she adjusts to her new position. "The previous provost actually had a number of initiatives that were under intense development, had a lot of faculty participation, several of which we voted on at the faculty meeting last Thursday," she said. "Now, getting those programs implemented is really the next task. So, my hope is that we can continue with the initiatives that really represented a lot of faculty and administrative creativity over the last year and a half."

When asked about how she is adjusting to her new role, Krauss said she is in an intense transition period. "It's exciting and it's scary. It happening in the middle of the semester kind of upsets my world in some ways, but the support and the wonderful e-mails I've been getting have been just heartening -- really very nice," she said. "I'm excited and feel this is an opportunity to develop good collegial relationships with new people, and I look forward to that.