December 5, 2006

Dear Faculty, Staff and Students:

This afternoon, Dr. Steven Knapp, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, has been formally named the 16th president of The George Washington University. He will take office Aug. 1, 2007.

This is a marvelous and well-deserved opportunity for Dr. Knapp, and I am most happy for him. I congratulate the trustees of George Washington, who have made an outstanding choice.

My happiness at gaining such an exceptional new presidential colleague is, of course, tempered by my regret at Steve's departure from Johns Hopkins. We shall all be the poorer for his absence.

"Provost" is an unusual job title and, outside of universities, many people are at a loss to understand what a provost does. The answer is, of course: everything. Steve Knapp has been my invaluable, indeed, essential partner in every important initiative undertaken in my 10 years at Johns Hopkins.

Together, for instance, we created the Commission on Undergraduate Education and set in motion a process, still under way, that has greatly enhanced the undergraduate experience at Johns Hopkins. Together, we have placed top priority on finding new sources of student aid and support for faculty across Johns Hopkins. Together, we have recruited all but one of our outstanding deans, a hugely important task in an institution such as ours.

Steve also has been a key player in efforts both to extend the university's global reach and, closer to home, to find ways for Johns Hopkins to make important new contributions in areas such as bioethics, urban health and emergency preparedness and response.

He has advanced the university's academic and research agenda, providing key support for initiatives as diverse as Judaic studies and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Likewise, he has been tireless in advocating -- through the Diversity Leadership Council and the University Committee on the Status of Women -- that Johns Hopkins address with determination and vigor the unfair obstacles faced by some members of our community.

Since he became provost in 1996, and before that for two years as dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Steve Knapp has been an invaluable leader at Johns Hopkins. He has been my advisor, confidant and friend. I know that you join me in offering him our deepest thanks and our very warmest best wishes as he embarks on this important new venture.

This is the fourth time in two years that I have had the honor of announcing that a senior leader at Johns Hopkins has been elected president of a sister institution. This extraordinary record is, of course, a testament to their talent and experience. But it is also, I think, a reflection on you -- the faculty, staff and students of the university -- and on the high esteem with which you and your work are regarded in the academic world. So, as always, I thank you for all that you do for Johns Hopkins.

Information about Dr. Knapp's appointment at George Washington is available online at

http://www.gwu.edu/%7Enewsctr/pressrelease.cfm?ann_id=24671

I will announce soon the launch of a search for our next provost.

Sincerely,

William R. Brody