In a letter to the Bowdoin community, President Barry Mills writes of Dean for Academic Affairs Cristle Collins Judd’s announcement that she will be leaving the College.

To the Bowdoin community,

I write to inform you that Dean for Academic Affairs Cristle Collins Judd will be leaving Bowdoin at the end of August. Dean Judd informed me and President-elect Rose that she will join the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in New York City as Senior Program Officer in the Higher Education and Scholarship in the Humanities Program, effective September 1.

In her new position at the Mellon Foundation, Cristle will play a key role in maintaining and strengthening the relationship of the Foundation with higher education leaders, in its grant-making activities in higher education, and in meetings and policy discussions regarding liberal arts colleges and research universities. This is truly a wonderful opportunity for Cristle, who has guided Bowdoin’s academic program with vision, diligence, imagination, and with a clear dedication to excellence since 2006. During this time, Cristle has built a legacy at Bowdoin that will endure for a very long time.

It is difficult to overstate Cristle’s accomplishments and her contributions to Bowdoin. During her tenure, the College has hired nearly 40 percent of the current faculty as well as leaders for the Library, the Museum of Art, the Registrar’s Office, and a multitude of other staff who serve Bowdoin in our academic program.

Working with faculty, Cristle has led efforts to develop and implement critical new programs and policies dealing with faculty sabbaticals, governance, diversity, retirement, parental leave, and partner accommodation.

She has led efforts to secure important grants; to introduce new support and opportunities for faculty development; and to foster a culture of engaged intellectual inquiry among students through focused work on our curriculum, academic advising, and student fellowships and research.

She has also been a strong and enthusiastic leader in our efforts to improve and enhance Bowdoin’s academic facilities and technological capabilities; to bolster the arts at Bowdoin; to shape our renewed focus on environmental and coastal studies; to enhance the humanities; and to launch our new program in digital and computational studies.

All the while, Cristle has also been a respected and engaged teacher, an active scholar, and an invaluable advisor to me and to the Board of Trustees in nearly every aspect of the College.

I am tremendously grateful for Cristle’s partnership over the past decade as we have worked together and with all of you to enrich Bowdoin’s outstanding academic program and to continuously enhance the value of a Bowdoin degree. Cristle and her family will be with us for several more months, and there will be an opportunity for an official farewell prior to their departure.

Given the timing of Cristle’s departure, it will be up to President-elect Rose to name her successor. He expects to be able to announce his plan in the near future.

I know each of you joins me in thanking Cristle for her devoted service to Bowdoin and her vigorous commitment to the liberal arts and higher education. We will be sorry to see her go, but we wish Cristle all the best as she embarks on this latest adventure in her exceptional career.

Sincerely,

Barry Mills