Provost Steve Goldstein assembles his brain trust

Five senior faculty advisers have many years of experience

Photos/Mike Lovett

The Provost's Office team: Robin Feuer Miller, senior adviser to the provost for faculty; Anita Hill, senior adviser to the provost, Provost Steve A.N. Goldstein; Irv Epstein, senior adviser to the provost for research; Michaele Whelan, vice provost for academic affairs; and Dan Perlman, associate provost for assessment and innovation in student learning.

Provost Steve A.N. Goldstein looked around Brandeis when he assumed his post last fall and saw a distinguished faculty rich in talent and experience. At the same time, he was compiling an ever-growing list of priorities that he wanted to address.

The solution: Draw on the wisdom and expertise within the university’s long-time faculty to focus attention and energy on challenges and opportunities alike. From that thought came the blueprint for the five senior staff and advisers who now serve in the provost’s office.

“This is the brain trust,” said Goldstein. “Who better understands our goals and aims but the faculty? We are tapping the deep pool of talent within the institution so we can capitalize on who we are. Each colleague will be dedicated to an area of the academic enterprise.

“This will allow us to engage the rest of the faculty, students and staff in a productive way because the lines of communication will be open and ongoing. It will also enable us to discern where we need support and where there are opportunities. It will enhance this office’s ability to support teaching, learning and scholarship,” he added.

The five senior staff and advisors are:

• Irv Epstein – senior adviser to the provost for research. Epstein is the Henry F. Fischbach Professor of Chemistry and a former provost.
• Anita Hill – senior adviser to the provost. Hill is Professor of Social Policy, Law and Women’s Studies at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management.
• Robin Feuer Miller – senior adviser to the provost for faculty. She is the Edytha Macy Gross Professor of Humanities and a former dean of Arts and Sciences. Miller officially joined the group this week.
• Dan Perlman – associate provost for assessment and innovation in student learning. He is Associate Professor of Biology.
• Michaele Whelan – vice provost for academic affairs and senior lecturer in English.

Goldstein said the group brings extraordinary expertise from across the university, spanning student learning, research, the faculty, the graduate and professional schools, and the administration and carries a profound understanding of Brandeis. Combined, their backgrounds provide great depth to his office, he said.

“These are world class teachers and scholars who are basically donating their time to help advance Brandeis to the next level. We got together around a table recently and I watched as they all started throwing ideas out on a topic, each coming from a unique perspective, and the synergy was thrilling,” Goldstein said. “I thought, ‘It’s working right now.’ That sense of insight and engagement is very powerful. It gives me great confidence. I am enormously grateful for their service.”