Announcing the Task Force on the Future Organization of Graduate Studies

April 7, 2022

Dear Members of the Georgetown Community:

I write to provide a few updates on the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

I recently charged the Task Force on the Future Organization of Graduate Studies, composed of 17 faculty from our Main and Medical campuses. This Task Force is motivated by the continued growth of graduate education programs and the opportunity for us to strengthen and define the responsibilities of the Graduate School, central administrative offices, and services provided at the local level by individual schools and programs.

The Task Force is responsible for reviewing the organization, roles, and responsibilities of the Graduate School as they relate to administrative and academic support for graduate education provided by other schools and units. It will play an important advisory role on ways to improve the complex network of graduate education offerings, as well as the administrative and functional structures that support them. In the coming weeks and months, the Task Force will be consulting widely with the University community.

The Graduate School is currently led by Dean Alexander Sens who will serve as Chair of the Task Force. In January 2020, I announced Alex’s interim appointment and, after consulting with Provost Groves and our faculty leadership, am grateful that he will continue to lead the graduate school as Dean with a non-renewable appointment concluding at the end of 2024. Following the work of the Task Force, the University will engage in a national search for new leadership.

During his time as Interim Dean, Alex has strengthened the relationships between our graduate student leaders and the administrative offices. He has been a key official in the University’s management and support of international graduate students during the pandemic. Alex has also collaborated with university partners on a number of academic initiatives including most recently the new master’s degree in environment and sustainability management.

I want to express my appreciation to Dean Sens for his ongoing commitment to our University community, as well as the members of the Task Force for providing their perspectives on the work ahead.

Sincerely,

John J. DeGioia

Task Force Members

Alexander Sens, Ph.D., Chair
Dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Markos and Eleni
Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Professor of Hellenic Studies

Reena Aggarwal, Ph.D.
Robert E. McDonough Professor of Finance and Director of Georgetown Center for Financial Markets and Policy

Leticia Bode, Ph.D.
Provost Distinguished Associate Professor,
Communication, Culture, and Technology

Daniel Byman, Ph.D.
Professor, School of Foreign Service and
Professor, Department of Government

Dayo F. Gore, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of African American Studies

Mary Haras, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Advanced Nursing Practice

Jessica Jones, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology

George Luta, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, and Biomathematics

Chandra Manning, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of History

Steven Metallo, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry

Caleb McKinney, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Rehabilitation Medicine and
Assistant Director of Career Strategy and Professional Development for Biomedical Graduate Education

Peter Pfeiffer, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of German and
Director of European Studies Certificate Program

Nicoletta Pireddu, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Italian and
Inaugural Director, Georgetown Humanities Initiative

Anna Riegel, Ph.D.
Professor of Oncology and Pharmacology and
Senior Associate Dean, Biomedical Graduate Education

Steven Singer, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Biology

Nitin Vaidya, Ph.D.
Robert L. McDevitt, K.S.G., K.C.H.S., and
Catherine H. McDevitt L.C.H.S. Chair, Department of Computer Science

Francis Vella, Ph.D.
Professor and Villani Chair, Department of Economics