This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only.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.
To the College Community:
I am writing with the news that I will step down as Provost on June 30, 2019. A sabbatical leave next year will allow me to devote more time to family matters since, as some of you know, I have been contending with a family illness. I also look forward to reclaiming time for my writing projects.
I will long cherish the work I have had the privilege to carry out over the past four years. The opportunity to help advance, support, and develop Lafayette’s faculty and academic program has been a great honor. During this time, I have learned as much as I have acted. My work has engaged me in fruitful collaboration with remarkable faculty members and outstanding administrative colleagues, who have all wanted to nurture high aspirations for the College. I am grateful to President Byerly, the Board of Trustees, and the Faculty for giving me the opportunity to serve Lafayette. Following my leave, I look forward to joining the Economics Department.
As Provost, I have aimed to develop an academic program that deepens the features of an outstanding liberal arts college and builds on what makes a Lafayette education distinctive and responsive to the world around us. Our shared values for greater inclusion in a diverse community, closer integration among disciplines, and continued innovation as a hallmark of our academic practice have guided my work. As this work has taken place, I have had the great satisfaction of getting to know and join the individuals who make up the Lafayette community. I look forward to the opportunity to thank personally those with whom I have worked closely.
During the upcoming semester, in order to ensure a smooth transition, I will work in collaboration with Dean of the Faculty John Meier, Dean of Academic Initiatives Jamila Bookwala, other faculty leaders, and appropriate committees as I fulfill my responsibilities.
S. Abu Turab Rizvi
Provost