Grad School dean to step down Friday

This Friday, Jo Rae Wright will step down as dean and vice provost of the University’s Graduate School—a position she has held since 2006.

Wright has been battling breast cancer for more than four years, and until now, she was able balance her treatment and work with the Graduate School, Wright said. But recently, her treatments have become less predictable and more tiring, she added.

“I don’t feel that I can continue to make commitments to travel as a dean must,” Wright wrote in an email Wednesday. “Thus, I have elected to step down so that Duke can recruit a Graduate School dean who can fulfill all the responsibilities of the job.”

Wright noted that her major goals as dean included actively engaging alumni by establishing a board of visitors, improving financial support for students and providing guidance for students in career and professional development—especially in light of the rapidly changing job market for those with doctoral degrees. Wright said she hopes the new dean will share some of these priorities.

Wright will be returning full time to her faculty position as a professor in the department of cell biology and will also manage a research laboratory.

“Running a research lab is more flexible in terms of time and travel.... Much of the work of writing grants and papers can be done from home, if needed,” she said.

The University will begin searching for Wright’s replacement shortly, Provost Peter Lange said, adding that the search should conclude no later than June 2012. Until a successor is secured, David Bell, senior associate dean of the Graduate School, will serve as interim dean.

“The Graduate School will be in great hands with David Bell as interim dean,” Wright said. “[We] have worked together closely for over five years, and he has a strong commitment to graduate education. The entire staff of the Graduate School is outstanding, and I am confident that the Graduate School will flourish under Dean Bell’s leadership.”

Wright said she hopes that breast cancer will be recognized more widely, leading to better research and treatments. She added that women ought to get screened regularly, especially given that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“I feel very lucky to be treated at such an outstanding medical center,” Wright said. “My worry is that critical research funding on breast cancer will be reduced.... Without continued basic science research and clinical trials, this disease will not be conquered.”

The programs Wright set up will continue under future leadership, Jacqueline Looney, senior associate dean for graduate programs and associate vice provost for academic diversity, wrote in an email Wednesday.

“With her dynamic and visionary leadership, Dean Wright has shaped a school where the lives of students truly matter,” Looney said. “There’s no question, Jo Rae will be personally missed, but she leaves a dedicated and disciplined staff to carry on the work she cares so deeply about.”

Kendrick added that Wright’s long Duke career and knowledge of the University served her well as dean.

“With excellent leadership under Dean Wright, we are not left in chaos in the Graduate School,” Kendrick said. “We are a cohesive unit that has been working together. We have a successor, and we will continue to work with our students and faculty as we always have.”