Mar 15, 2006 - Claremont, Calif. -

Daniel L. Goroff, professor of the practice of mathematics and member of the faculty at Harvard University since 1983, has been named dean of faculty at Harvey Mudd College effective July 1, 2005.

"Daniel is ideally suited by virtue of background, interests and personality to be our next dean," said HMC President Jon Strauss. "Perhaps my highest accolade is that he has the values of a Mudder. We expect he will provide strong leadership for our academic program, for teaching excellence, for our living-learning environment, for interdisciplinary problem solving, and for learning by doing through Clinic projects and undergraduate research. We are particularly enthused by his commitment to societal relevance which is a cornerstone of our mission."

Goroff said of his appointment: "Harvey Mudd College has an unmistakable sense of energy, innovation, and purpose that draws people to it. I am excited about joining a community that attracts such excellent students, such dedicated faculty and staff, and such active alumni and supporters."

In Goroff's view: "Educating scientists, engineers, and mathematicians who are, in the liberal arts tradition, ready for the world, is a great national challenge. Mudders have already contributed much to meeting this challenge, and we are eager to do even more in the years to come."

During his tenure at Harvard, Goroff has distinguished himself as a leader in mathematics and science education, and in its advocacy. In addition to his faculty roles, he served as associate director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning and as a tutor at Harvard's Leverett House. He currently chairs the U.S. National Commission on Mathematics Instruction at the National Research Council and co-directs the Sloan Scientific and Engineering Workforce Project based at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Goroff's advocacy for scientific education and research has also taken him to Washington, D.C., where he worked for the National Research Council as a division director in 1996-97, and for the President's Science Advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in 1997-98. He was named one of the decade's "Young Leaders in Academe" by Change: The Magazine of Higher Education in 1998.

A 1988 Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Prize winner, Goroff has taught courses for the departments of Mathematics, Economics, Physics, and History of Science at Harvard. In pursuing his work on nonlinear systems, chaos, and decision theory, he has held visiting positions at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques in Paris, the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, Bell Laboratories in New Jersey, and the Dibner Institute at MIT.

Goroff earned his B.A.-M.A. degree summa cum laude at Harvard as a Borden Scholar, an M.Phil. in economics at Cambridge as a Churchill Scholar, and a Ph.D. in mathematics at Princeton as a Danforth Fellow.

Goroff's appointment follows a nationwide search by an HMC committee that was chaired by Professor of Mathematics Henry Krieger, and that worked with The Diversified Search Companies of Philadelphia. Goroff succeeds Sheldon Wettack, who stepped down last year in order to resume his teaching duties in the Department of Chemistry at HMC. Burton Bettingen Professor of Physics Thomas Helliwell, who has served as interim dean of faculty during the 2004-05 academic year, will continue in that role through June 30, 2005.

PDF version of news release: goroff_dean_hmc.pdf

Photo for print publications: goroff_media.jpg