In less than two months, Engineering Dean Kent Fuchs will take over as the University’s 15th provost. In a meeting with The Sun yesterday, Fuchs (pronounced Fox) spoke about the state of the University, his focus on rankings, his plan to ensure diversity at Cornell and his background in divinity.

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The Sun: What do you see as the responsibilities of the provost?

Before students of the Class of 2009 were even born, Carolyn “Biddy” Martin and Carolyn Ainslie were dwelling in Ithaca as Cornell employees. So it came as a surprise this summer when both the provost and the vice president for planning and budget bid adieu to Cornell after more than two decades of service.

As Cornell’s highest ranking officers gathered in Ithaca this weekend, President David Skorton announced to a standing ovation that Kent Fuchs has been appointed as the University’s 15th provost. Fuchs, who currently serves as dean of the College of Engineering, will take the reins as Cornell’s chief academic officer and second-in-command to the president in January.

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Skorton chose Fuchs nearly five months after Biddy Martin decided to vacate the position to become chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Currently David Harris serves as interim provost.

Kent Fuchs, dean of the College of Engineering, will be Cornell's 15th provost, President Skorton announced at this morning's State of the University Address. Fuchs has been dean since 2002, and his term as provost will start in January 2009.

"I look forward to serving Cornell's faculty, students and staff, and working to fulfill President Skorton's vision for our campus. We are blessed with wonderful leadership across the University, and I will devote all my energy and time to helping those leaders enhance Cornell's stature, scholarship and teaching,” Fuchs stated in a press release. He succeeds Carolyn “Biddy” Martin, who is now the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Check cornellsun.com for updates.

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The search for the next University provost is underway. Calling all members of the Cornell community to offer input, the Provost Search Committee sent a University-wide e-mail over the summer requesting nominations.

The committee will be looking internally for Biddy Martin’s replacement. It will narrow the nominations to compile a short list of candidates from which President David Skorton will then choose the next provost.

With hopes of completing their task by October, the search committee stopped accepting nominations yesterday.

“We have to do our job quickly,” Prof. Martha Haynes, astronomy, and Chair of the Provost Search Committee, said. “But we do not want to rush. With such an important decision, we must take our time and be deliberate.”

As a gift to the outgoing provost, President David Skorton proclaimed that the dining room in the A.D. White House would now be called the “Carolyn ‘Biddy’ Martin Room.”

The announcement was made yesterday at a special event, where about 150 staff, faculty, students and alumni gathered under a large, white tent on Bailey Hall plaza to bid farewell to Martin, now chancellor of University Wisconsin-Madison, her alma mater.

“A.D. White House is where I have spent some of my best times at Cornell. It is one of the most beautiful and important houses on campus. And to have something related to the humanities named after me means the world to me,” said Martin.

As the Cornell community says goodbye to Biddy Martin, the longest serving provost in the University’s history, the Office of the Provost welcomes an addition and a few vacancies.

As the search for the next provost is being conducted, David Harris, deputy provost and vice-provost for social sciences, will act as interim provost. No one has else been named to serve as deputy provost or vice provost for social sciences in the interim period, and Harris will continue to carry out his duties. In addition, an opening remains for the position of vice provost for diversity and chief diversity officer.

As Provost Biddy Martin leaves Cornell to assume the chancellorship position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell has begun to search for her replacement. In the meantime, President David Skorton has appointed David Harris, deputy provost and vice-provost for social sciences, as interim provost until a replacement for Martin is found. The Sun spoke to Harris about his appointment, his plan not to introduce new initiatives and what it will take to fill Martin’s shoes.

Updated June 24

Plans have quickly fallen into place to find the University’s next chief academic officer. Less than three weeks after Provost Biddy Martin’s announcement that she will leave Cornell to become the next chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, President David Skorton named Deputy Provost David Harris to temporarily fill her position. Harris will serve as interim provost until Martin’s successor is chosen, according to the University.