December 17, 2004

Dean of Arts and Sciences

Dear Faculty, Staff and Students:

On Friday morning, Daniel Weiss, the James B. Knapp Dean of the Krieger
School of Arts and Sciences, was elected the 16th president of Lafayette
College. He will assume that post on July 1.

This is a wonderful opportunity for Dean Weiss. I congratulate him, and I
especially congratulate the trustees of Lafayette on an excellent choice.
Dan will do an outstanding job.

Dan will join a long list of former Johns Hopkins faculty and academic
leaders who have gone on to presidencies of colleges and universities
around the country. Johns Hopkins can take pride in knowing that it has
contributed so much over its nearly 130-year history to the leadership of
the greatest system of higher education in the world.

As dean, Dan Weiss has focused on implementing the Krieger School's
strategic plan, which he had helped develop before his appointment as dean
in 2002. He has led the school's $250 million portion of the Johns Hopkins:
Knowledge for the World campaign, working to develop resources to support
faculty excellence, to modernize facilities, and to increase student aid.
He has been an ardent advocate for important new interdisciplinary academic
programs and an energetic, visionary leader in the enhancement of the
undergraduate experience at Homewood.

Dan will continue this important work throughout his remaining time as
dean. And he will leave behind an excellent team of deans and department
chairs who will, in close cooperation with the faculty and staff of the
Krieger School, keep the momentum going. Provost Knapp and I will soon
convene a committee to mount a national search for a successor as dean. We
will work to bring that search to a successful conclusion as quickly as
possible. In the meantime, we will identify interim leadership to guide the
school through the transition period.

Dan Weiss has been a member of the Johns Hopkins faculty since 1993. As a
double-degree graduate, having earned both a master's degree and his
doctorate in art history here, he has even longer and deeper ties with the
university. I am pleased that he will remain a member of the Johns Hopkins
community through his alumni connection, and hope that we will see him here
often.

Sincerely,

William R. Brody