The appointment of Interim Provost Marty Wyngaarden Krauss as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Adam Jaffe as dean of Arts and Sciences was finalized on Friday after approval by the Board of Trustees. Although University President Jehuda Reinharz deemed the appointment of a provost and a dean simultaneously "unusual," he has "little doubt that it is going to work well."

Reinharz met with the Faculty Senate Council in April to discuss candidates for the positions. The dean position became vacant in April after Dean of Arts and Sciences Jessie Ann Owens ended her three-year term with the announcement of her resignation. Also that month, Professor Melvin Bernstein stepped down as provost.

Jaffe, who is currently on sabbatical, stated in an e-mail that Professor Owens was a "terrific dean."

"I was surprised, and frankly, disappointed when I heard that she was stepping down. I think my job will be made easier by the hard work that she has done in the last three years. And I am sure that I will be consulting with her on an ongoing basis," Jaffe said.

Krauss has serves as provost pro tempore since Bernstein's resignation.

On May 1, Reinharz announced in a campus-wide e-mail that he would be endorsing Krauss and Jaffe as candidates for the positions. Following his recommending the candidates to the Faculty Senate, interviews were held. According to Reinharz, a national search was not conducted because the University possessed "two outstanding candidates within the University who were able and ready to take the job."

Reinharz added that faculty members, students and trustees had interviewed the candidates after he had. To conclude the process, the Academic Affairs Committee and the Board of Trustees held votes to confirm the appointments of Krauss and Jaffe into their respective offices.

In an e-mail announcement, Reinharz detailed the accomplishments of the two candidates. Prior to her appointment as provost pro tempore, Krauss served as associate dean for faculty and academic programs at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. Krauss is also adjunct professor of psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. She has co-written several books and has published numerous articles in professional journals.

Krauss was not available to comment on her new position.

Jaffe, according to Reinharz's e-mail, received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. Six years after joining the Brandeis faculty in 1994, Jaffe became Fred C. Hecht Professor of Economics and served as chair of the department of economics. One year later, Jaffe chaired the University's Intellectual Property Policy Committee. He currently serves as associate editor of the Rand Journal of Economics, and has also co-authored several books and papers.

"I found that I got a lot of satisfaction from the accomplishments of these administrative posts," Jaffe said, referring to his positions as chair of the economics department and of the Faculty Intellectual Property Policy Committee.

"I wanted to expand my experience in this area," he said.

Jaffe added: "I have taught undergrads and Ph.D. students; as department chair I have worked closely with other senior faculty and with junior faculty. As a department chair, I also attended regular meetings of the department chairs and got to know many of the other chairs. So I think I have a good cross-section of experience with the members of the Brandeis community."

But Jaffe acknowledges that, with the new position, his role in the Brandeis community will be dramatically altered.

"Basically, I have an entirely new job," Jaffe said.

Jaffe will not be teaching or heading the economics department, and added that he will "probably have very little time" for his research.

Although Jaffe stated that he does not have "direct experience" with the full breadth of areas under the College of Arts and Sciences, he says that he looks forward to "finding out more about the many diverse activities that come under Arts and Sciences."

"I look forward to talking with students, faculty and staff about their perspectives on our needs and potential. I welcome any suggestions about how I can most quickly 'come up to speed' in understanding all of the pieces," Jaffe said.

Reinharz said that Krauss and Jaffe are "highly respected members of the faculty."

"They are very fine scholars who have held administrative positions in a university before," Reinharz said. "They have been active participants in the University. The faculty and Board of Trustees, and I hope the students too, will work with them to make this a greater university.