Forum | Dean's Page

Saying Goodbye
to the Nicholas School’s Unsung Heroes

by William H. Schlesinger

Over the past six years, I have had the privilege to use this page to share my thoughts on the educational programs of the Nicholas School—forestry, geology, marine science, and human health—and on global problems, such as ozone depletion, excessive resource use, and continued, rapid human population growth. The Nicholas School has world-class research and education programs to address many of these issues, and we are proud to place our graduates in positions where they can work on them so effectively. My messages always have had a common denominator— to use the best science we know at the time to ensure a functional biosphere on this planet for tomorrow.

For this last column, I want to focus on some unsung heroes of the Nicholas School—the delightful staff that I have worked with during the past six years. Most of our recent alumni remember fondly Karen Kirchof and her assistants, Glenda Lee and Thelma Jernigan, for their wonderful help preparing them for the world of gainful employment. They are a terrific team and a real asset to the Nicholas School.

On the front end of Nicholas School enrollment is Cindy Peters, who with Joe Scarfo and Erika Lovelace, selects the best applicants to matriculate at the Nicholas School and guides their program of study with utmost care. The enrollment team, with its new efforts in recruitment across the country, has increased our class size from about 70 students in 2001 to 120 today. The MEM is the signature degree of the Nicholas School, and I am proud that so many great students have been able to join us under Cindy’s guidance.

To run the Nicholas School, we try to hire the best faculty and build the best facilities and programs for our students. That, of course, costs money. Money that drives the basic mission of research and education is the life-blood of any school, and I thank so many of our friends for their financial help during my term as dean. Their generosity has been nurtured by our development staff and the fine efforts of Peggy Glenn, Susan Berndt, and Krista Bofill.

Back in 2001, Molly Tamarkin was the first to welcome me to the Nicholas School, a full six minutes after the official announcement from the Provost. Molly and her staff guided our IT efforts for the first five years of my term, before she moved over to Arts and Sciences to do the same for their larger, more challenging program. Fortunately, I was able to recruit Susan Gerbeth-Jones, whom I knew from my earlier days in biology, to replace Molly and maintain the effective IT program we enjoy every day.

I’ve enjoyed many a late afternoon laugh with Jim Haggard as we have tried to manage the finances of the Nicholas School. Jim truly lives up to the motto that when he makes the dean look good, we all look good, and I am most thankful for his efforts to do so during my term. We’ve made great strides with the school’s finances, and Jim deserves a lot of credit for what we have accomplished. I hope he remembers my most repeated phrase: “Jim, the Sun will rise tomorrow over the Nicholas School.”

Scottee Cantrell and the communications “C” team have enjoyed a special level of my interest during the past six years. The C-team brought the Nicholas School to an unprecedented level of recognition on the Duke Campus, across the state, and around the nation, by promoting our most newsworthy stories to a wellcultivated list of media contacts and producing an award-winning Web site that is the envy of the other schools at Duke. Scottee has offered honest and thoughtful comments on the early drafts of many of my editorials, and with Tim Lucas, wrote the text for the New York Times advertorials that brought the school huge national attention. On top of all that, twice each year, Scottee pulls together a rich set of stories, news and features on the Nicholas School to produce this wonderful magazine, which she has made so much her own.

Laura Turcotte, Donna Sell, and more recently Anne Jones have been the inner staff of the dean’s office, where we have all shared many a light moment in the course of the ups and downs of daily life. It’s a little scary knowing what these folks know about me, and I have enjoyed their counsel on all subjects large and small.

There are many others I could mention, both in Durham and Beaufort, and as I leave the Nicholas School, I can’t help but think that no dean has ever had a more loyal, fun and productive team of coworkers. You have made the school run, and I will miss you all.

William H. Schlesinger is outgoing dean of the Nicholas School and James B. Duke Professor of Biogeochemistry.