Dear Members of the Brown Community,

Following my recent letter to the community sharing my plans to launch an internal search for a senior Brown faculty member to serve as the next Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity, I am writing to share the makeup of the search committee.

As a member of the President’s Cabinet and my senior team, the Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity provides vision and leadership for all of Brown’s efforts to build and sustain a diverse and inclusive community for Brown’s students, faculty and staff in support of the pursuit of academic excellence. 

The Vice President leads Brown’s Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity and is charged with aligning, coordinating and elevating the University’s many investments, education and training efforts, and community-wide initiatives aimed at advancing diversity and inclusion across Brown’s schools, divisions, programs and administrative units. The Vice President is responsible for leading the implementation of the Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP). This strategic leader and partner also will be charged with working collaboratively with stakeholders across campus to develop and implement the next iteration of Brown’s plan to address barriers to diversity and inclusion and create stronger academic and administrative initiatives and operations in support of our teaching and learning community.

I will chair the search committee, which will be composed of the following members representing faculty, staff and students:

• maisune Abu-Elhaija, Assistant Director of Campus Career Exploration
• Carlos Aizenman, Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence in Neuroscience, Professor of Neuroscience, Professor of Brain Science
• Mary Jo Callan, Vice President for Community Engagement, and Stark Family Executive Director of the Howard R. Swearer Center for Public Service
• Ernestine G. Jennings, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, and Chair of the Committee on Faculty Equity and Diversity (CFED)
• Stanley Nicholson, graduate student, and member of the DIOB 
• Brenda M. Rubenstein, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Associate Professor of Physics, member of the DIOB
• Alexandra Tucker, undergraduate student, and member of the DIOB
• Andre C. Willis, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, and Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Oversight Board (DIOB)

Dacia Read, Chief of Staff to the President, will staff the search committee.

I want to thank Sylvia Carey-Butler again for her leadership as she prepares to step down at the end of this month. I am appreciative that Dr. Patricia Poitevien, MD, senior associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion for the Division of Biology and Medicine, will serve as interim vice president while we conduct the search for our next permanent leader. I also extend my gratitude in advance to the members of the search committee for their commitment to this important process. 

Sincerely,

Christina H. Paxson
President