President’s Community Message
July 14, 2008

Dear Friends,
 
I write with happy news about our search for a new Provost.  A few weeks ago I asked the Board of Trustees to appoint Chase Robinson as the next Provost of the Graduate Center, and at their final meeting of the year, the Board agreed unanimously to do so.  Accordingly, Professor Robinson will assume the position of Chief Academic Officer in September.
 
I am delighted with this outcome. Professor Robinson is a brilliant scholar, the leading expert on early Islam of his generation. He is currently Professor of Islamic History, Faculty of Oriental Studies at Oxford University where he has taught since 1993. He’s published three major books (with a fourth on the way), edited seven others (one on press, three in preparation), and has produced a clutch of significant essays. He reviews for the TLS, the Journal of Islamic Studies, the Journal of Semitic Studies and a wide range of scholarly and popular publications. Among other prizes and honors, he has won fellowships from the British Academy, the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, and the American Research Centre in Cairo. Moreover, he has received grants to support his work from the Leverhulme Trust, the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the British Academy.  
 
Professor Robinson’s administrative work at Oxford has been as impressive as his scholarship.  He has led the Faculty of Oriental Studies with great energy and judgment.  His fundraising efforts on behalf of that entity merit particular note. Moreover, Chase Robinson is a man of great wit and charm. I know that we will come to delight in his company, and I am confident that he will lead the Graduate Center to new levels of achievement.
 
I want to thank our distinguished Search Committee, who, under the leadership of Steve Kruger, identified Professor Robinson and nurtured his interest in the Graduate Center. I also want to thank everyone who participated in the search. Your input was very important to me.
 
Finally, I want to thank Julia Wrigley for the intelligence, energy, generosity, and devotion, she has displayed as Acting Provost.  It has been an honor to serve with her; we are all much in her debt.
 
I will schedule a reception in the fall to welcome Professor Robinson to the Graduate Center. I hope you will be able to join me for that happy occasion.
 
Warm regards,
 
Bill Kelly