New Dean of Arts & Sciences and VP for Information Technology

July 12, 2005

We are delighted to announce the appointment of two outstanding people to two senior positions at Tufts.

Professor Robert Sternberg of Yale University, whose scholarship has blazed new trails in understanding intelligence, learning, creativity, and the diversity of human ability, has accepted our offer to become the next Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences.

Amelia "Mely" Tynan, currently Vice Provost and Chief Information Officer at University of Rochester, has accepted our offer to become Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer.

Bob Sternberg is the IBM Professor of Psychology and Education in the Department of Psychology, Professor of Management in the School of Management, and Director of the Center for the Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise (PACE Center, http://www.yale.edu/pace/) at Yale University.

Bob is one of the most distinguished and frequently cited scholars in his field, and a leader in education research and policy. His groundbreaking work at the PACE Center has focused on addressing the development and facilitation of human abilities in the young and old of various cultures around the world. It has advanced the notion of intelligence as modifiable and capable of development throughout the life span. Under Bob's leadership, the center has gone beyond research to engage in work that makes a difference in the world. The landmark "Rainbow Project" developed creative new tests to predict college performance more accurately for students of all ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Other far-reaching initiatives on five continents have embraced children with learning disabilities in Zambia, special needs students in Ghana, autism in the U.S., rural communities in Kenya, and native peoples in Alaska, to name a few.

The philosophy behind the PACE Center is very much in keeping with the active citizenship that Tufts embraces, and we are delighted that the PACE Center will be coming to Tufts.

Bob was the 2003 President of the American Psychological Association (APA) ?the largest professional society in the United States ? and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Psychological Foundation (2005-2009). His leadership of both the APA and the PACE Center emphasized inclusion and applying non-traditional ways of thinking to bring out the best in people. This ability to develop the full potential of diverse groups and bring people together will be invaluable as Tufts thinks about its role as an educational institution.

Bob received a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1975 and a B.A. summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with honors with exceptional distinction in psychology, from Yale University in 1972. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of numerous awards, including five honorary doctorates from around the world. He has received the Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology from the APA and was listed as one of the Top 100 Psychologists of the 20th Century by the APA Monitor. Science Digest listed him as one of the 100 Top Young Scientists in the U.S.

Mely Tynan enjoys a national reputation as a leader in the field of academic computing and technology.

As the University of Rochester's first CIO, Mely has worked very closely with faculty to use technology to support their teaching and research. She developed the school's first strategic technology plan, working with a campus-wide IT Council. She rationalized the technology structure of the university, combining five units reporting to five vice presidents into a single structure. Wireless computing, advanced networking, new courseware, and online registration and admissions were just some of the enhancements that she introduced.

Mely has held various leadership positions in higher education technology organizations. Prior to the University of Rochester, she was Vice Provost for University Information Technology at the University of Arizona and held a tenured position in the psychology department of the University of the Philippines. Her research and publications focus on experimental verbal learning, psycholinguistics, memory, and cross-cultural methodologies. A magna cum laude BA psychology major, Mely Tynan holds a Master?s degree in Psychology from the University of the Philippines.

From 1998 to 2002, she served on the board of EDUCAUSE where she was elected Secretary and then Vice Chair. EDUCAUSE is the largest professional IT organization in higher education. She was the Director of the Leadership Institute that provides intensive leadership development for senior IT professionals. She is currently co-coordinator of the Seminar in Academic Computing's Executive Leaders institute in Snowmass, Colorado. She is a board member of NYSERNET, a consortium of New York universities providing advanced data networking facilities for research and education. Under her leadership, the University of Rochester became a founding member of the Northeast Lambda Rail, an advanced optical network for cutting edge research projects. During the initial founding of Internet2, she served on the Internet2 Application Council.

With her keen appreciation for academic culture and wealth of technological experience, we think you will agree that Mely is just the right person to take technology to the next level here at Tufts.

We know you will give a warm welcome to Bob, who will join us on August 15, and Mely, who will start in September. If you would like to send Bob or Mely a note before they arrive on campus, his e-mail address is robert.sternberg@yale.edu and hers is amelia.tynan@rochester.edu.

We want to congratulate and thank everyone who helped us recruit these outstanding leaders to Tufts, including the faculty, administrators, graduate and undergraduate students who served on search advisory committees. We received hundreds of applications for these posts and were blessed with a deep and talented pool of candidates. Finally, our deepest thanks and appreciation go to Susan Ernst. She has been an outstanding Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences, and we are fortunate that she will continue to contribute to Tufts in the research laboratory and the classroom.

Best regards,

Jamshed Bharucha
Provost and Senior Vice President

Steve Manos
Executive Vice President