Estrup leaving Graduate School post

In an April 23 letter to faculty and graduate students, Provost-designate Robert Zimmer announced that Peder Estrup, dean of the Graduate School and research since 1996, would be stepping down to return to the faculty.

Estrup, the Newport Rogers Professor of Chemistry and professor of physics, recently chatted with the George Street Journal’s Tracie Sweeney about his six years as dean and what lies ahead.

How did the decision to divide your job come about?

A vice president for research is a common title among our peer institutions, and I recommended splitting the job in two some time ago.

These two jobs interact in many ways, and the people who will hold them will continue to work together closely. But there are advantages to dividing the responsibilities.

The research component of the dean’s job has expanded incredibly. While I’ve been dean, federal funding for research performed on the Brown campus has grown from about $70 million to more than $110 million a year. I’m very happy about that, but at the same time the complexity of managing research has increased. The Office of Research Administration, under the long-term leadership of Tom Wunderlich and with the recent appointment of Norm Hebert as director, is doing a great job, but their resources have not always kept up with their needs.

It may be difficult for someone in the humanities who has never had a federal research grant to fully identify with these issues. By dividing the job, a faculty member from the humanities can now serve as dean of the Graduate School.

I also believe that the provost needs a team he can count on for a solid period of time. It’s a good time for Brown to make this change. I’ve agreed to stay on until both of these positions are filled.

What changes have you seen in the Graduate School since becoming its dean?

When I was considering whether to take the job, I talked with President Vartan Gregorian about whether Brown should be a research university or more of a college. We both agreed Brown should have strength in both, but at that point it wasn’t clear to me that was the direction Brown would go.

That, I think, has changed. The commitment to remain a research university is there, and that is how most of us now, and certainly President Simmons, envision the future of Brown.

I am very happy about that. That’s how we get the very best faculty, that’s how we provide the very best teaching.

There also is a greater recognition of the value of graduate students at a place like Brown. I think they do much to define the intellectual climate. I sometimes walk through a building and wonder what Brown would be like if there were no graduate students. It would be very different place, a poorer place. We wouldn’t have the same faculty, we would not be teaching the same things, we would not teach the same way.

Also, although it has not grown in size, the Graduate School has definitely grown stronger.

All of these are important and make Brown a very interesting place.

What are your reactions to the Initiatives for Academic Enrichment?

The effect of Ruth Simmons’ arrival here is very important. Not only is it recognized that research and graduate students are important, but now we’re doing something about it.

I remember talking in ACUP for a whole year and perhaps getting $50,000 for the Graduate School. This time, through the initiatives, we’re getting $4 million for health insurance, financial aid, stipends and summer support over three years. We still have quite a distance to go, but we have made a wonderful start toward addressing graduate students’ needs.

I used to think the main qualifications for the dean were patience and persistence. Now, I think, that has changed. It’s still good to have patience and persistence, but now there’s actually room for initiatives. Whoever succeeds me will have a very good time.

What about the vote regarding a graduate student union?

I think there’s a greater understanding of the concerns that prompted the discussion about unionization. Graduate students have tended to be somewhat invisible at Brown, and campus climate surveys have shown that many have felt like second-class citizens, that they are not appreciated for what they are doing and for their importance to the University. I think that has changed.

The Initiatives for Academic Enrichment have begun to address financial issues and will certainly strengthen Brown’s academic programs. Campus life issues, such as the need for graduate student housing and a social center, remain. Certainly there will be a continuing effort to address those concerns.

What’s next for you?

I’m looking forward to taking a sabbatical. I was supposed to have one in 1989, but instead I became chair of the chemistry department for seven years, then dean of the Graduate School, so there has been no pause for me.

I am a scientist. My specialty is physics and chemistry of surfaces, a field which has progressed very fast. It will be fun to try to catch up.

And I will enjoy having more time to spend with students and faculty colleagues.