Division of the Humanities Dean Appointment Extension

To: Division of the Humanities Students, Faculty, Other Academic Appointees, and Staff, and University Senior Administrators
From: Paul Alivisatos, President, and Ka Yee C. Lee, Provost
Subject: Division of the Humanities Dean Appointment Extension
Date: March 3, 2022

We are pleased to announce that Anne Walters Robertson, the Claire Dux Swift Distinguished Service Professor of Music and the Humanities in the College, has agreed to a one-year appointment extension and will continue serving as dean of the Division of the Humanities through June 30, 2023.

Anne, a renowned scholar of music of the Middle Ages, has served as dean since 2017, and served as interim dean the year prior to her permanent appointment. Under her leadership, the division has been instrumental in implementing the University’s new graduate funding model, which has led to significant additional funding for the division’s doctoral students. Anne increased the number of named professorships and postdoctoral fellowships in the division. She significantly expanded the cohort of postgraduate teaching fellows in the humanities and in the Master of Arts Program in the Humanities (MAPH) during the COVID-19 pandemic to meet growing teaching needs in the College and MAPH and to support the division’s new PhDs.

Several new academic programs and awards have been created during Anne’s tenure as dean, including the Master of Arts in Digital Studies program, the Chicago Visiting Scholar Program in Paleography and the Book, the Grossman Ensemble in the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition, and the Dean’s Award for Graduate Student Teaching Excellence. She has increased the diversity of the division’s faculty and students. During her tenure, the division exceeded its fundraising goal for the University of Chicago Campaign: Inquiry and Impact, achieving $148 million.

We are confident that Anne’s thoughtful leadership will continue advancing the eminence of the University across the humanities. Please join us in thanking Anne for her continued service.