Breitborde to leave post in 2013
Amott announces Dean of the College will step down after 2012-2013 year
September 21, 2011
On Monday, an announcement was made to the faculty that the Dean of the College; Vice President for Academic Affairs; Professor of Anthropology, Lawrence Breitborde will step down from his post as Dean in two years.
The announcement came from President of the College Teresa Amott in a faculty meeting.
“From his perspective and my perspective, it’s actually an extension of the amount of time he is staying in the job, because he was planning to leave in June,” Amott said.
Breitborde originally planned to retire at the end of the 2012 school year, but was persuaded to stay an extra year by Amott.
“When I arrived two things became very clear to me: one is that he is a superb dean of faculty and that I really enjoyed working with him, and the second thing was that I really did not want to go immediately into a search because I didn’t know the institution well enough yet to know if I would be hiring the right person,” Amott said.
Breitborde hopes to restart his teaching career by joining the Anthropology Department full time and continue his tenure as an anthropology professor.
“I taught for 18 years [at Beloit College] before I came here and I’m forever grateful to that place … one of the things that I felt for a long time is that it took me 18 years to find the right school so I will be here doing my best,” Breitborde said.
Breitborde has kept the post longer than most administrators in his spot, seeing four different College Presidents since his start at Knox College in 1995.
“The idea that I would be here for what will be 18 years by the time it is over, as dean, was science fiction at the time,” Breitborde said.
The search for his replacement will begin at the beginning of next year and the school has had a history of conducting nationwide searches to find the best candidate, but encourages faculty to submit applications as well.
Of his best time at Knox, Breitborde said, “It has been an interesting time to be at Knox,” but declined to give a specific moment, saying it is not yet time to reminisce and write his memoirs.
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