Pat Reynolds named new Dean of Faculty

By Jordyn Taylor '12
NEWS WRITER

On March 10, the Hamilton community received an email from President Stewart announcing that Interim Dean of Faculty Patrick Reynolds has been appointed the college’s new Dean of Faculty. The search for a new Dean of Faculty began last year, when former Dean of Faculty Joe Urgo left Hamilton to take up presidency at St. Mary’s College in Maryland. Since then, Reynolds has replaced Urgo on an interim basis.

The primary task of Hamilton’s Dean of Faculty is leading the college’s 184 faculty members. The Dean of Faculty also presides over a number of academic offices and programs, including Burke Library, Emerson Gallery, the Registrar, the Physical Education Department, Athletics and Hamilton’s off-campus study programs.
Reynolds’s new position will certainly be demanding, but he is confident in his abilities. He admitted that one of the only things that makes him nervous is “finding enough time for family and interests outside of work,” given the magnitude of his new responsibilities.

Despite his concerns, Reynolds hopes to continue with his previous roles as teacher and researcher alongside his Dean of Faculty position. Reynolds began his Hamilton career in 1992 as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1998, professor in 2005 and chair of the Biology department in 2006. An expert in marine biology, Reynolds has also spent a good deal of time conducting field research and contributing to scholarly scientific journals.

“I hope to teach one course a year, and to continue my research,” Reynolds said. “The latter will be focusing on writing up projects for which I’ve already collected data, and working with collaborators who can continue the data collection on other projects.” However, Reynolds plans on taking a break from doing fieldwork in order to make time for his Dean of Faculty responsibilities.

Aside from his involvement in the sciences, Reynolds has also served on a number of faculty and administrative committees including the Academic Council, the Committee on Academic Policy and the Honor Court. Reynolds said, “most of that work [involved] helping faculty and staff colleagues do their work towards our common purpose, and it is very satisfying to do so.”

Apparently Reynolds’ work so far has paid off, because faculty members seem incredibly confident that he will succeed in his new position. Edward North Professor of Classics Barbara Gold, who has been a Hamilton faculty member since 1989, said “Pat Reynolds will be a good fit for Hamilton. He is a long-time member of the faculty and understands how Hamilton works. He has a very good scholarly record – which is important for a Dean of Faculty – and cares very much about teaching.”

Even students are looking forward to making acquaintances with their new Dean of Faculty. Rem Myers ’11 said, “Joe Urgo did a good job getting to know the campus – he even wrote for The Daily Bull once a week! Hopefully Reynolds will also take time to get to know Hamilton students.”

“I’ll definitely miss seeing Joe Urgo and his famous scooter,” agreed Zach Harbage ’11, “but I’m sure Pat Reynolds is going to do a really great job.”

While Reynolds enjoyed acting as interim Dean of Faculty, he knows he has plenty to look forward to in his new position. He said he is excited about “making things work well and run smoothly, finding ways to develop our curricular offerings, enhancing our academic support for students, supporting faculty and staff to do their work and communicating to the world off the Hill how wonderful Hamilton is!”