Professor of Russian Tim Harte has been named Bryn Mawr's next provost. President Kim Cassidy announced Harte's appointment in the below May 11 letter to faculty and staff.
Dear Faculty and Staff:
I am pleased to announce that Tim Harte, Professor of Russian, will serve as the next Provost of Bryn Mawr College. I am grateful to the Provost Selection Committee for their hard work throughout this process. In addition to the slate of candidates, they gathered important information that was useful to me in the selection process and that will be helpful to Tim as he begins. I want to note that a portion of the Committee’s work occurred during a global pandemic and an abrupt switch to remote learning. The Committee’s commitment to this process was extraordinary given the circumstances. I also am grateful for the participation of the faculty. And finally, I appreciate the faculty members who put themselves forward for consideration for this role. We are fortunate that members of the faculty were willing to serve the College in this way, and my decision was a difficult one because of the terrific choices I had. It is clear that we have a strong pool of faculty leadership that will serve the College well now and in the future.
I am very excited to work with Tim Harte in his new role. Tim joined the faculty at Bryn Mawr in 2002, after completing his B.A. and Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literature at Harvard, and has been a consummate scholar-teacher. His research focuses on Russian literature and film of the early 20th century, and he is particularly interested in the role of athletics in shaping Russian culture. He has produced two books, co-edited two other volumes of essays, and written many articles and reviews. Tim has taught across the curriculum, from Russian language courses, to his popular Nabokov course, to film courses, to ESem and the 360° program.
Tim has done an extraordinary amount of service for the College. He has served on and chaired the Curriculum Committee; served a term on the Committee on Academic Priorities; chaired the Russian Department since 2009; and has co-directed the Russian Flagship program since 2009. He is a member of the BiCo Steering Committee for Comparative Literature, has been acting director of Film Studies, was a Posse Mentor from 2010-2014, and has been the Faculty Athletic Representative since 2009.
Tim thus brings a breadth of leadership experience across many critical areas of the College, as well as a deep commitment to our core teaching and research mission and to advancing equity and inclusion across the College. Tim has a strong understanding of the depth and range of the curriculum and the many forms that faculty scholarship assumes. He has demonstrated an ability to work productively with faculty, staff and students across the campus. I look forward to working with him to achieve the best possible future for Bryn Mawr.
I want to express my deep appreciation to Mary Osirim for her extraordinary work and dedication as Acting Provost from 2013-2015 and then as Provost from 2015-2020. At a more appropriate time, we will celebrate Mary’s leadership and her many contributions to the College as Provost. I am also grateful that Mary has agreed to stay on for the next academic year in some capacity to ensure a smooth transition for Tim. Tim and Mary will work together to create a plan for the transition and for next year and we will share that with the faculty as soon as they work it through.
The Provost is the College's chief academic officer and reports to the President. The Provost oversees all Academic Departments/Programs and Schools, the Athletics and Physical Education Department, the Health Professions Advising Office, the Office of Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment, the Office of Institutional Grants, and the Office of Sponsored Research.
The Provost also works with the Committee on Appointments, the Committee on Academic Priorities and is an ex officio member of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.