Current Haverford College Provost Linda Bell has been named Barnard’s new permanent provost, effective Oct. 1.
Bell, an economics professor, has been provost at Haverford—a small liberal-arts college just outside of Philadelphia—since 2007. She will take over for biology professor Paul Hertz, who has been serving as interim provost since Elizabeth Boylan stepped down last June to become program director for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
As provost, Bell will be Barnard’s chief academic officer, responsible for budgeting, academic planning, and overseeing the tenure review process.
“From her years spent at Haverford, with its Quaker values and strength in the liberal arts, she understands how to work in a consensus-building environment to enhance academic excellence for students and faculty,” Barnard president Debora Spar said in a statement announcing Bell’s appointment.
The announcement came four days after Columbia named John Coatsworth permanent provost, effective immediately. Coatsworth was appointed interim provost in July.
Philosophy professor Frederick Neuhouser, a co-chair of Barnard’s provost search committee, said that the committee looked at both external and internal candidates. He noted that there are “advantages and disadvantages to coming from within the institution,” and that an outside hire like Bell “can provide an external perspective on the institution.”
“She has a lot of experience with what liberal art colleges are like, what they need, and how they can hook up with larger institutions like Columbia,” Neuhouser said.
The search process began last spring, after Boylan announced she would be stepping down. According to Neuhouser, the committee conducted day-long interviews with four finalists in December, and Spar made a final decision based on the committee’s recommendations.
English professor Monica Miller, who was a member of the search committee, said that Bell has an “understanding of community.”
“Haverford is a small community and, of course, Barnard is a small community,” Miller said. “She also has an understanding of inter-institutional politics, the challenges and joys of working together. I think that makes her a particularly politically savvy person for working on the Barnard-Columbia relationship.”
Chemistry professor Christian Rojas, who served on the search committee, thinks one of the most important issues Bell will face is budgeting. He said that “this is a challenging time for Barnard” in terms of the college’s budget.
“She’s going to have some decisions … and that’s going to mean bringing people together,” Rojas said. “Getting that done in an equitable sort of way … She’s successfully done those sorts of things at Haverford, and so I’m hopeful that she will bring some of those skills to bear at Barnard.”
Spar, too, said that Bell will arrive at an important moment for the college.
“With a strategic-planning process underway, and a major fund-raising campaign in its early stage ... we were seeking a candidate who could lead and develop our faculty, sustain and enhance our relationship with Columbia, expand our global connections, increase our diversity, and represent our academic programs and mission,” Spar said in an email to students.
Bell, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a doctorate from Harvard University, will also join Barnard’s economics department.
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