The search committee for a new Dean for Religious Life is now beginning its work. We, Professor Grant Parker and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Stephanie Kalfayan, are co-chairing the committee. The other committee members are Professors Charlotte Fonrobert, Michael Lepech, Merritt Maduke and Byron Reeves, and Santa Clara School of Law Professor David Ball.

Associate Vice Provost for Administration in Student Affairs Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain will serve on the committee, as will graduate student Daniel Smith and undergraduate student Emily King.

The search committee does not select the new dean; our job is to assess potential candidates and present university leadership with an unranked list of plausible candidates. President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Provost Persis Drell will make the final decision about the next Dean for Religious Life.

We will not communicate broadly about the progress of the search; however, we welcome suggestions, not only about individual candidates, but about your concerns and hopes for the office going forward and about the sorts of traits you think are generally important for the next dean. We value input from all members of the Stanford community and urge you to send your thoughts our way as soon as possible. You may send your comments to deansearch@stanford.edu. Please be assured that communications to the committee will be kept confidential.

We speak for the whole committee when we say that we will take this job very seriously and will work to ensure the best outcome for the future health of Religious Life. Thank you for your assistance, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Grant Parker
Associate Professor of Classics

Stephanie Kalfayan
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs