This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
President Alison Byerly emailed the following message to the campus community today.
To the College Community:
I am delighted to announce the appointment of S. Abu Turab Rizvi, professor of economics and former dean of the Honors College at the University of Vermont, as Provost of Lafayette College. This appointment will be effective January 20, 2015.
Abu Rizvi’s experience as leader of an Honors College within a research university has given him a broad overview of curriculum and operations, as well as a deep appreciation of the residential liberal arts college mission. I look forward to his partnership in advancing the College’s strategic goals, and know he will be a valued member of my leadership team.
Under Rizvi’s leadership as dean from 2007 to 2014, UVM’s Honors College doubled the size of its first-year class while sustaining academic standards, and increased the diversity of its student body, as well as the proportion of students who are in the first generation of their families to go to college.
Rizvi designed interdisciplinary faculty development seminars; helped create a curriculum drawing on faculty from across the university to engage students in active learning; promoted student participation in collaborative research with faculty mentors and success in national fellowships competitions; and designed and led the implementation of an initiative to integrate academic advising, learning beyond the classroom, and career planning support for students. He also led the development of academic and residential space for the Honors College.
A member of the faculty at UVM since 1987, Rizvi holds master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from the New School for Social Research and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Vassar College. In the Honors College, he has taught seminars for first-year students on different approaches to knowledge and on ethics. His teaching in economics has included courses on microeconomics, the relation between well-being and the economy, economic methods, and game theory.
Rizvi’s research concerns general equilibrium and game theories and their history, as well as the study of poverty, well-being, and preference. He is co-author, with David P. Levine, of the book Poverty, Work and Freedom: Political Economy and the Moral Order, published in 2005 by Cambridge University Press, as well as author of many scholarly articles. Currently on leave as a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, he is working on a book about liberal arts education in the 21st century.
Abu will be joined here by his wife, artist and web designer Paige Berg Rizvi. Son Jaafar is an MBA student at New York University. I know that they look forward to becoming part of the Lafayette community.
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to the members of the Provost Search Committee: Annette Diorio, Lisa Gabel, Scott Hummel, James Klimek ’15, Jim Krivoski, Kira Lawrence, Elizabeth MacDonald, John Meier, Chris Ruebeck, and Diane Shaw. It was a pleasure to work with such a thoughtful and dedicated group of colleagues.
The success of this search reflects the careful consideration that the search committee gave to every aspect of the process, and the thoroughness with which they assessed our diverse pool of candidates. I hope that you will join me in thanking these colleagues for their important service to the College. My thanks as well to all who took time to meet with candidates or attend the open forums. All three finalists were very impressed by the quality of their interactions with our community, and the warm welcome they received.
Alison Byerly