Johns Hopkins Physicist Named Williams' 17th President
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Williams College announced late Monday that Adam F. Falk, currently dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, has been selected to replace Morton O. Schapiro, who lead the 216-year-old school for nearly a decade.
Falk will begin his duties on April 1 in time to bid farewell to the class of 2010. He and his family arrived at the college on Monday night and will spend time on the campus and in town on Tuesday. He will be presented to the campus at 4 p.m. on Tuesday in Chapin Hall.
The search for a new president has been ongoing since last December, when Schapiro was named president of Northwestern University. The college search committee spent several months meeting with faculty, students and community members to craft a prospectus of what they expected in a Williams president, then began searching for suitable candidates.
William Wagner has been serving as interim president since Schapiro's departure.
On Sept. 11, search committee Chairman Gregory M. Avis, also chairman of the board of trustees, said the college had "followed up extensively with the most promising candidates in our impressive pool." The hope was to deliver a short list of candidates to the trustees so a president could be named by this fall, the end of the year at the latest.
Two weeks later, however, the board had their man.
In a letter to the Williams community on Monday, Avis wrote that "The board was captivated by Adam's intelligence, passion, warmth, and outstanding record of leadership."
Falk said he had been contacted by the college's presidential search committee to see if he was interested in the position.
 Justin Knight/Williams College
Gregory Avis, left, class of 1980, chairman of the trustees and of the search committee, and Adam F. Falk, soon-to-be president of Williams College. |
The 44-year-old Falk said he learned late last week that he had been chosen. He estimated that he'd spent about 20 hours in "serious, substantive conversations" about the college with various sections of the Williams community during the interview process.
While they learned about him, it became apparent, he said, that the conversations were even more important in determining that Williams was the place he wanted to be, adding that "you're not paying attention if you don't find this job daunting."
Falk said he was struck by the "incredible passion that everyone has for the college."
"Listening to all those voices are the single most important thing I plan to do," he said. "They are expressions of the values that people feel are critical to the community."
In his letter, Avis said "Adam's values align remarkably with those of Williams. He is deeply and broadly curious and instinctively collegial. He sets the highest standards, yet is very down to earth. Adam appreciates Williams and what makes it exceptional.
"He is eager to advance our commitments in such areas as diversity and inclusion, sustainability, and international education. He knows the importance of alumni engagement. Those who work with him say he is a great listener and community-builder, in touch with the many people required to operate a campus."
Falk was raised in academia, as his father was chairman of the philosophy department at the University of North Carolina. He followed somewhat in his father's footsteps, earning his bachelor's degree in physics with "highest distinction" from UNC. He earned his master's and doctorate in physics from Harvard in 1991 and worked at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and the University of California at San Diego before joining the faculty at Hopkins in 1994. He was appointed interim dean in 2005 and dean a year later.
He expects to get a lot of questions about his science background as he takes command of the nation's pre-eminent liberal college, but thinks that the major assets of an educational leader — a curious mind and broad interests — applies as equally to physicists as economists.
Also, said Falk, the college's strong undergraduate program produces some of the nation's best young scientific minds. He hopes to teach again, something he hasn't been able to do since being named interim dean.
The School of Arts and Sciences educates some 6,000 students from undergraduate to doctoral in 22 academic departments and has an operating budget of $250 million. During Falk's tenure there as dean, he was responsible for all aspects of academic and student life and saw the completion of a capital campaign to raise $330 million and $85 million renovation of one of the school's flagship building.
Falk's aware of the hit taken by Williams' endowment and the revenue issues facing most academic institutions over the past year. Johns Hopkins, too, has had to identify core priorities and investigate new revenue streams, he said.
He's looking forward to making connections not only with alumni, but between the college, the community and the Berkshires region, and having his three children attend the local schools. He and his wife, Karen, are the parents of Briauna, 14, David, 8, and Alex, 7.
"Williams cannot be healthy without the community; it's a very positive and symbiotic partnership and I'm interested in furthering that and engaging with the broader community," said Falk.
"I'm extraordinarily excited to be living here. I lived in Boston for four years ... I love Massachusetts and I know I'm going to love it here. I don't feel I'm just moving to Williamstown, I feel I'm moving to a whole area that has so much to offer."
