After nine years as Dean of Georgetown College, Jane McAuliffe will be moving on this summer, after being elected president of Bryn Mawr College on Friday.

cAuliffe, who has served as dean since 1999, was unanimously elected by the Board of Trustees of the all-women’s college and will succeed Nancy Vickers as the school’s eighth president on July 1.

Despite the honor, McAuliffe said that the decision to leave Georgetown was a very difficult one.

“I love Georgetown, but here there was the opportunity to take leadership to an institution and see the way in which it can expand opportunities,” she said in an interview.

In addition to her responsibilities as dean, McAuliffe is a tenured professor in the history department and the department of Arabic and Islamic studies.

cAuliffe previously held faculty and administrative positions at Emory University and the University of Toronto.

cAuliffe earned her undergraduate degree from the all-women’s Trinity College in Washington, D.C., in 1968. She also received her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1979 and 1984, respectively.

She said that the smaller size of Bryn Mawr, which is located in suburban Philadelphia and has an undergraduate student body of about 1,300, will allow her to get to know more people on a personal level.

In addition, McAuliffe said that Bryn Mawr’s commitment to social service, which she said bears similarity to Georgetown’s Jesuit mantra, “Women and men for others,” is another element of the offer that appealed to her.

“One of the things that attracted me to Bryn Mawr was its strong emphasis on social service, as it has a graduate school on social work, has long been active through that graduate school and also has an extensive program for undergraduate students,” she said. “It is very much like Georgetown in that way.”

cAuliffe will be remembered on campus for improving programs in the sciences and the performing arts during her tenure, in addition to adding a doctorate program in the theology department, according to University Provost James O’Donnell. She helped pave the road for new campus construction, including the Davis Performing Arts Center, and develop plans for a new science center.

“Every department has been touched or changed by her in some way,” he said.

cAuliffe also played a pivotal role in the advancement of inter-religious understanding and the founding of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, according to University President John J. DeGioia in a broadcast e-mail to the Georgetown community.

“One of the things that I’m most happy about, during my time at Georgetown, is the new performing arts center and the creation of the Ignatius Seminar,” McAuliffe said.

The Ignatius Seminars are discussion-based courses offered to first-semester freshmen that focus on unique topics, from Shakespeare to game theory, and are designed to introduce students to the university academic experience and develop close relationships with professors.

When asked about the direction that Georgetown is moving towards, McAuliffe said it will lean heavily on strengthening the science program.

“I think Georgetown will continue to deepen and broaden our academics.one strong emphasis will be science, as we are poised to begin construction of a new science center, are bringing in new faculty positions. We want to match what we already do in the humanities and social sciences,” she said.

Ahmad Dallal, chair of Georgetown’s Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, said McAuliffe has made significant contributions to academia while dean.

“One of her most outstanding achievements was the actual high quality of scholarship that she managed to produce despite the extremely high demands of her position. Dean McAuliffe was able to provide outstanding leadership both as Dean of [the] College and as one of the leading authorities in the field of Qur’anic studies in particular, and in religious studies in general,” he said.

The Bryn Mawr College Board of Trustees organized a presidential search committee approximately one year ago when Vickers announced that she would be retiring at the end of the 2007-2008 academic year.

“I’m very excited about her appointment. She brings, number one, a lot of extra administrative experience and knowledge in areas of curriculum we’re trying to improve,” Vickers said. “She is thoughtful, intelligent and hardworking and I think she will be great for Bryn Mawr College.”

Vickers also said that McAuliffe’s background fits in well for a women’s college.

“It does help to have the experience and understanding of the dynamic of a women’s college. Her experience at Toronto and her status as an international scholar added up very nicely with Bryn Mawr,” she said.

Diane Craw, staff representative of the search committee, lauded McAuliffe’s excellent communication skills.

“I was impressed by the way she interacts with people. She seems genuinely interested in what people have to say,” she said. “I like the fact that she talked about getting to know people. She has interesting ideas about broadening the preparation of students for a more global world.”

O’Donnell said that temporary arrangements will be made while university officials conduct a search for a new dean.

“There will be a careful look at where the College is and where it is going. We’re going to move as rapidly as we can to make sure we’re doing it right,” he said.

cAuliffe’s husband, Dennis, a scholar of medieval Italian literature, professor at Georgetown and Catholic Studies Program Director, will also be joining the Bryn Mawr faculty.

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