Dean search

Updates on the search for the Ford School's next Joan and Sanford Weill Dean

Dean search job posting now open

With inclusive outreach and community input through faculty, staff, and student town halls, the University of Michigan Provost has approved a job posting and the search firm Isaacson, Miller posted it publicly on December 13, 2022. View the posting.

 

Portrait of Celeste Watkins-Hayes

Watkins-Hayes recommended new dean of Ford School

Celeste M. Watkins-Hayes, interim dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and a scholar known for her research on the organizational...
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Timeline and milestones

  • Nov. 8, 2022: Search committee announced
  • Nov. 16-17, 2022: Community town halls and meetings
  • Dec. 13, 2022: Dean search job posting approved and published

Search committee

  • John Ciorciari, Chair, Associate Dean for Research and Policy Engagement, Professor of Public Policy, Director, Weiser Diplomacy Center, Director, International Policy Center, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
  • Huda Bashir, Masters Student of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, Masters Student of Public Health in Epidemiology, School of Public Health
  • Michael Deeter, Undergraduate, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
  • Catherine Hausman, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
  • Broderick Johnson, Executive Vice President at Comcast and a former partner at Bryan Cave. Former Assistant to the President, Former White House Cabinet Secretary for President Barack Obama, Chair, My Brother's Keeper Task Force
  • Sue Johnson, Chief Development Officer, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
  • Stephanie Leiser, Lecturer in Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy (and AB/MPP '05)
  • Ann Chih Lin, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, Kenneth G. Lieberthal and Richard H. Rogel Professor of Chinese Studies, College of Literature, Science and the Arts, Director, Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, International Institute
  • Jonathan Overpeck, Samuel A. Graham Dean and William B. Stapp Collegiate Professor of Environmental Education, School for Environment and Sustainability
  • Shobita Parthasarathy, Professor of Public Policy, Professor of Women's and Gender Studies (by courtesy), Director, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program
  • Natasha Pilkauskas, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, Faculty Associate, Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research
  • Kaitlin Raimi, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, Associate Professor of Psychology (by courtesy), College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, Faculty Associate at Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research
  • Stephanie Sanders, Ford School Diversity and Inclusion Officer, and Lecturer IV in Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
  • Dean Yang, Professor of Public Policy and Economics, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy; Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, LSA; Research Professor, Population Studies Center

Community town halls and meetings

One of our first steps was to solicit your views. What challenges and opportunities do you see for the Ford School in the coming years? What priorities should our permanent dean be prepared to address, and what qualities and experiences should we seek in candidates? A team from Isaacson Miller, led by Lisa Savereid and Ford School alum Jeff Kessner (MPP '13), visited campus for two full day week to engage with our community and hear the community's thoughts. Faculty gathered on November 16, staff on November 16-17, and students on November 17.