April 23, 2024
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
I am very pleased to share the wonderful news that Martha Umphrey, currently the Bertrand H. Snell 1894 Professor in American Government in the Department of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought, has agreed to serve as our new Provost and Dean of the Faculty. Martha, who will assume the position on July 1, succeeds Catherine A. Epstein, who has served truly exceptionally as dean of the faculty since 2014 and provost since 2019. You can read more about Martha’s outstanding credentials—and about Catherine’s accomplishments—in the press release.
Martha and I share a vision of Amherst as a dedicated intellectual community of learning where we learn from one another through inquiry and dialogue. She is someone who has demonstrated her commitment to the work of Amherst’s faculty and staff, and she has a keen appreciation for the challenges facing liberal arts institutions at this moment. I’m excited to begin our partnership.
I am extremely grateful to the members of the search committee, and especially its chair, Professor Rhonda Cobham-Sander, for conducting such a careful and thoughtful process. This is also a moment when I feel a profound sense of gratitude for Catherine, whose remarkable leadership guided a transformational decade for the faculty of Amherst College — and steered the College through the challenges of the pandemic. We all remain eternally grateful.
Michael