Chemistry Professor Mark Ratner will serve as interim dean of Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences for the upcoming school year, according to a press release. He will replace Sarah Mangelsdorf, who is leaving Northwestern in August to become the Provost at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Ratner, who earned his Ph.D. at Northwestern in 1969, will begin his term as interim dean on Aug. 1. He is internationally renowned as a scholar in seven major areas of chemistry, and he is the Lawrence B. Dumas Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry.
Ratner currently serves as co-director of the Institute for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern (ISEN). In his 44 years at Northwestern, he has chaired the chemistry department twice and has received the University Distinguished Teaching Award.
In a letter to his colleagues, University Provost Dan Linzer described Ratner as a “university citizen” and said he “will be an excellent leader of Weinberg College as we continue the deanship search.”
The WCAS search committee will meanwhile continue their national search for the next dean, who they expect to hire during the upcoming academic year. The committee will host an open forum in the fall to give students, faculty, staff and alumni the opportunity to voice opinions about what qualities the committee should look for in the new dean.