Dear NYU Steinhardt Community Member,
Welcome to the Fall 2022 semester!
As I begin my third year as dean, I am energized by the return of students to our Washington Square and Brooklyn campuses and am excited for the new academic year ahead. It was also my privilege this week to welcome our new undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students in person and share in their enthusiasm and passion for starting their studies at NYU Steinhardt. While I had the opportunity to meet some of our returning and new students at these events, I really look forward to getting to know many more of our amazing students over the course of the next few months.
I also extend my welcome to our remarkable faculty, administrators, staff, and researchers. During the events this week, it was a pleasure to meet some of you in person, whom up to this point I had only met virtually in tiny boxes on the computer screen. I also thank all the faculty and staff who helped to plan and carry out the welcome and orientation events this week, which have given us a great start to the semester.
It is my distinct privilege to serve as the dean of NYU Steinhardt, the mission of which is to improve the education, health and wellbeing of people and communities around the world. I look forward to all of our many accomplishments together over the coming months, advancing our fields of study and making the world a better place.
As we begin this new semester together, I am pleased to share a number of updates with you.
Leadership Updates
First, I would like to welcome several faculty into new leadership roles: Marilyn Nonken, Professor of Music and Music Education, chair of the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions, and Adam Buchwald, director of the Center of Health and Rehabilitation Research (CoHRR). I appreciate each of them taking on this new important responsibility for the school and their respective department or center. On behalf of all of us, I also acknowledge the outstanding service of our outgoing chairs and center directors: David Schroeder, Sonja Molfenter, Smita Rao, Gerald Voelbel, and Kathleen Woolf.
As I announced last June, Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng begins his role as Vice Dean for Equity and Belonging today. As Vice Dean, Sebastian will provide leadership for, and oversight of, strategies to support a culture committed to promoting equity and social justice at NYU Steinhardt and beyond. In collaboration with others at the School, he will develop and sustain infrastructure to unify and amplify equity and social justice in all aspects of our work, including curricula, recruitment and hiring practices, promotion and tenure, and retention initiatives. He will build partnerships with community organizations and individuals to learn and implement model practices from community leaders and other stakeholders, as well as leverage NYU Steinhardt’s research to influence practice and policy.
Finally, please join me in wishing Judy Harinarain, Administrative Manager in the Dean’s Office, all the best as she transitions into a new role in the Office of the Provost. Judy has been a key member of the Dean’s Office staff for five years, and has been an outstanding member of my team. While we search for her successor, please reach out to steinhardt.dean@nyu.edu or to Lauren Brown with any inquiries related to the Dean’s Office.
Artists and Scholars-in-Residence
Launched in 2018, the NYU Steinhardt Dean’s Scholar-in-Residence program welcomes distinguished academics, artists, advocates, and other thought leaders to the NYU Steinhardt community to share their expertise; mentor students and faculty; highlight the breadth and depth of the School’s academics, research, and community impact; and emphasize work on equity, belonging, and innovation.
This year, we are proud to announce the residencies of Georgina Kleege; Leonardo and Olga Suarez-Paz; Taj Mahal, as NYU-Americana Music Association Foundation Artist-in-Residence; and Rudy Pérez as the inaugural NYU-Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame Artist-in-Residence. We look forward to their participation in activities across the School this year.
Public Square
I am pleased to continue our signature speaker series, the NYU Steinhardt Public Square, where we highlight the impact and thought leadership of our community on topics of particular relevance to broader society. This coming year, we hope to engage a broad series of voices from NYU Steinhardt on the issues of the day including faculty, students, and alumni, including those on our newly formed Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board.
We will align these events with a leadership message from the Dean’s Office around a topic in the news or a commemorative month:
- October 2022 - Education, Elections, and Policy
- November 2022 - Equity in Education
- February 2023 - Black History Month
- March 2023 - Women in Leadership
Strategic Planning: Dean’s Advisory Groups
Last year, we formed five school-wide advisory groups, one for each goal area outlined in our NYU Steinhardt Strategic Framework, with representation from faculty, students, and administrators across departments, centers, and units. These five groups were charged with reviewing the strategic plans of departments and units to find areas of potential school-wide coordination; suggesting ideas for school-wide initiatives related to the strategic goal area; and making recommendations to school leadership about future priorities. Each group issued a report of their work to me at the end of the Spring semester, and this Summer, I have worked with the Senior Leadership Team to identify priority areas and projects to further develop this year.
I look forward to sharing a summary of this work, along with several new initiatives, this Fall as part of my State of the School presentations in October and November
As we begin this new semester together, I thank you for being an invaluable part of the NYU Steinhardt community.
Jack H. Knott, Dean
Gale and Ira Drukier Chair
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