Wright takes helm of Graduate School

The new dean of the Graduate School hasn't been resting on her laurels--but if she were resting, it would be on office furniture that is falling apart.

Formerly the vice dean of basic science at the Duke University Medical Center, Jo Rae Wright stepped into her new office July 1. Two months after her arrival, however, decking out the workspace with new furniture still has not fit into her schedule.

"The time has flown by," she wrote in an e-mail.

Graduate student orientation and convocation were among the first of her commitments.

"I was really pleased that so many graduate students attended the graduate and professional student convocation," she said.

She has also focused her attention on establishing relationships with members of the Graduate School community.

She has met or plans to meet deans, directors of graduate studies, students and faculty.

"Dean Wright is a wonderfully bright, engaging leader with lots of ideas," Provost Peter Lange wrote in an e-mail. "She is learning her new job with enthusiasm and intense engagement."

Lange and Wright--whose position doubles as vice provost--will work in the future to implement the University's strategic plan.

The current draft, which has not yet been approved by the Board of Trustees, places a strategic priority on the Graduate School and its students.

In the meantime, the two have been working together to address "a variety of issues, some strategic, some more immediate and mundane," Lange said.

Wright has also met with leaders from the Graduate and Professional Student Council. GPSC President Audrey Ellerbee, a fifth-year graduate student in biomedical engineering, said she is optimistic about the new dean's commitment to getting to know her constituents.

"She has demonstrated her willingness to engage students," Ellerbee said. "She's more out and about."

Ellerbee said Wright also seems willing to support students' financial needs-for instance, by following through on lowering health insurance costs, an initiative set up by Lewis Siegel, previous dean of the graduate school.

"It's on her shoulders to make it happen dollar-wise," Ellerbee said. "She is going to have a huge role in making a big difference for students just in her first year."

She noted that Wright was aware of graduate and professional students' social issues--such as parenting--as well as academic concerns.

Wright gave Siegel credit for preparing her smooth transition into the deanship.

"[He] spent a lot of time orienting me to the job and helping me understand ongoing issues," she wrote.

But for two months' time, Wright has stood on her own two feet.

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