Provost Pomerantz named acting president of Brown University

Brown Provost James Pomerantz has been appointed acting president of Brown University. He will serve as both acting president and provost through Jan. 2, 1998, at which time he will resign as provost for personal reasons.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Brown President Vartan Gregorian, in concurrence with President-elect E. Gordon Gee, has announced that Provost James Pomerantz has been appointed acting president of Brown University through Jan. 2, 1998. The appointment of Pomerantz was approved by Chancellor Artemis A. W. Joukowsky and the Advisory and Executive Committee of the Brown Corporation.

"When President-elect Gee's appointment was announced in July, Jim Pomerantz indicated to me that he wanted to step down during the coming academic year for personal and professional reasons," Gregorian said, "as well as to provide President-elect Gee with a chance to name his own leadership team. I am delighted that after considerable urging, Jim has agreed to serve as acting president and provost."

"This appointment is a tremendous honor for me," Pomerantz said. "I will focus my efforts on resolving several pending matters in the coming months and I will do my best to support my colleagues in the senior administration as we continue to prepare the University for President-elect Gee's arrival in January."

Pomerantz, who is also a professor of cognitive and linguistic sciences, informed Gregorian and Gee that, for personal reasons, he has decided to resign as provost and will leave the administration when his term as acting president concludes. "Many couples today are involved in commuter relationships that prove to be taxing," Pomerantz said. "With my partner making her home in Texas and my son still in high school in Florida, it has been difficult to meet my obligations to them while serving as Brown's chief academic officer. As much as we have grown attached to the new T. F. Green airport, three years of life on airplanes and communication via telephones is enough." Gee and Gregorian accepted Pomerantz' resignation with regret.

"Jim Pomerantz has been an effective and dedicated provost," Joukowsky said. "His contributions to the University, particularly in leading our strategic planning efforts and in keeping our academic budgets on track, have played a significant role in the dramatic progress Brown has made in recent years. I thank him for his service and look forward to his continued contributions as acting president."

Although Gregorian has continued to serve the University since becoming president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York last July, his term of office officially ends Oct. 1, 1997. "I am pleased that Brown will continue to benefit from Jim Pomerantz' leadership until President-elect Gee's arrival in January. During Jim's tenure almost every indicator of the University's academic health has shown steady improvement. Our recruitment efforts have resulted in excellent faculty appointments and we have received some of the largest grants in Brown's history," Gregorian said.

"I am confident that Jim Pomerantz will do an excellent job as acting president and I look forward to working with him and the entire senior administration to make this transition as smooth as possible," Gee said.

"I want to take this opportunity to thank Jim Pomerantz for his excellent work," Gregorian said. "I leave Brown confident that the University will continue on a steady course under the new leadership."