Milton Kornfeld, the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences who is leaving the University at the end of this semester, does not want you to call him "retired." "I'm leaving, not retiring. I don't feel old or tired," he said. "It started to get to me that there were other things I wanted to be doing and if I didn't start something about doing them.I could wake up being unable to do them," said Kornfeld, who was dean of the Graduate School for seven years.

In his position this semester, Kornfeld works part-time. He continues to coordinate scholarship programs, work opportunities and orientation programs for the class of 2006. He is also writing a "transition handbook" in order to ensure seamless continuity in the graduate school's activities and programs when his successor arrives.

"I want to not only make sure that I leave things in good order but that my successor finds them in good order," he said.

Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe said he plans to consult faculty members and administrators before launching the search for a successor.

"After the consulting, a job description will be drafted and a search committee will be formed," Jaffe wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. The dean said he expected a successor to arrive over the summer.

Kornfeld helped establish the "Creating Future Faculty" program, which pairs students with faculty mentors at nearby colleges "to help them think more creatively and productively about becoming faculty members," Kornfeld said. He has also published about 100 issues of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences newsletter "GSASFYI" over the past eight years.

Provost Marty Krauss said Kornfeld has worked on the "support structure" for students, particularly the Graduate Student Association.

"He was an advocate for the graduate students," Krauss said. "Having someone like Milton who was always thinking about their needs was an asset."

After he leaves Brandeis, Kornfeld said he hopes to continue working with students completing their dissertations, applying to graduate school and thinking about how to succeed in college.

"You can't do that when you've got a full-time job," he said.

Before taking over at the graduate school, Kornfeld was associate dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs for a decade.

"The longer that I've been at the graduate level, the harder it's been to actually have more direct contact with students," Kornfeld said.

Kornfeld, who received his Ph.D. in English from Brandeis in 1970, said the relationships he has developed at the University mean the most. "The one thing that stands out to me was not the events but it's the community of people that I've worked with over the years, the faculty, the staff, the students," he said.

In the coming years, Kornfeld said he would like to see greater interaction between graduate and undergraduate students in the University.

Krauss said she and Jaffe are discussing developing other arts and sciences Master's programs that cross into the Heller School of Social Policy and Management and the International Business School. She said she hopes Kornfeld's successor "will be a strategic partner with Adam and me in thinking about new graduate programs in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences."

Kornfeld also said he looks forward to traveling with his wife, taking up sailing, spending time with his grandchildren and reflecting. "There are about 150 books that I'd like to read," he said.

-Rachel Marder contributed to this article