Gary G. Bennett, an award-winning instructor and scholar of health behavior, began his term as dean of Trinity College of Arts & Sciences on Feb. 1. In an inaugural message to Trinity faculty and staff, he reflected on how the college is uniquely prepared to meet the challenges facing higher education – and to lead the way for others – as a consistently excellent academic community.
Bennett's approach to his first weeks in office is to "learn Trinity as a newcomer might...engaging with as many colleagues as possible to learn more about our work, the challenges we face, and our shared aspirations." The images that follow capture just a few of those interactions during his earliest days as dean.
Bennett spent his first day touring natural sciences facilities to see firsthand the challenges that aging infrastructure creates in departments like Biology, Evolutionary Anthropology and Physics.
Bennett meets twice weekly with the college's Senior Leadership Team, a group of faculty and staff who set priorities and support academic units in advancing scholarship, operations, and undergraduate and graduate education.
Bennett (seated at far left in the audience) dropped by Smith Warehouse for "John Hope Franklin: Hope at the BBC," a John Hope Franklin Legacies Series Lecture. He plans to regularly attend scholarly events, courses and celebrations that are an essential part of creating community across Trinity and Duke.
Annual budget meetings began in January for all Trinity academic units and will continue until the college submits its budget to the Provost's Office in March. Bennett attended some of those meetings, including the Department of Theater Studies, to hear their strategic vision and associated budget discussion.
Bennett spent a Friday afternoon grabbing coffee with students, discussing their majors and academic areas of interest as well as what it means to be a dean and to choose a path in academic leadership.
