The person who helped build the Josef Korbel School of International Studies into one of the best international studies programs in the nation will step down next year.
Dean Tom Farer recently announced plans to leave the position on June 30, 2010, after 14 years.
When Farer became dean, the program was known as the Graduate School of International Studies. In 2008, it was renamed in honor of the school’s first dean, Josef Korbel, the father of former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Farer says he plans on teaching and writing after he leaves the post.
“The main point is that I will remain at DU as a scholar and teacher doing what I can do to advance the interests of the school, the University and the wider community,” Farer wrote in a letter to the Korbel School community.
Chancellor Robert Coombe says Farer will become a University Professor, a special designation held by only two others at DU.
“The appointment is well-deserved and means that Tom Farer’s scholarship and stature are such that he will interact with a number of different fields at the University,” Coombe says.
The chancellor says he’s confident someone with an extraordinary background will be recruited to lead the Korbel School. A search committee will begin the process of recruiting a new dean this summer.
Farer will oversee completion of the Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy and the Frederick Pardee Center for International Futures. Both will occupy an addition next to Ben Cherrington Hall, home of the school.
Recently, the school’s professional master’s program was ranked 12th in the world in a survey released by Foreign Policy magazine.