I am delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Helen Cullyer as the next Executive Director of the Society for Classical Studies. She is a classicist, with special interest in classical philosophy, educated at Oxford and Yale, where she received her doctorate in 1999. She taught at Evergreen State College and the University of Pittsburgh before moving in 2008 to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, where she is currently Program Officer in the Scholarly Communications Program. Many members will know her work in that role, where she has been involved in working with scholars and institutions in developing many initiatives in scholarly publishing, preservation, and access to digital resources. She thus brings to the SCS a broad background in scholarship, teaching, and administration, as well as an exceptionally wide perspective on developments in digital humanities and the funding possibilities for the classics.
The search committee, chaired by then president John Marincola, enthusiastically recommended Dr. Cullyer out of a very strong pool of candidates, and the Board of Directors unanimously accepted this recommendation at their meeting on January 9. She combines a broad vision of the work of the SCS with an unusual ability to see the implications of our mission statement and strategic plan for every level and aspect of our activity. Her deep commitment to the teaching of languages, to public outreach, and to the diversity of the profession excited the committee. I look forward to working with her and with Adam Blistein over the next few months as we prepare to move the office to the New York area. She will join the SCS staff on May 1 in order to give her a full opportunity to work with Adam and ensure a smooth transition. She is already giving much thought to the Society’s future development.
The other members of the search committee—Deborah Boedeker, Toph Marshall, Kathryn Morgan, Barbara Shailor, and Peter Struck—were superb colleagues throughout and deserve the members’ gratitude for their service. It is hard for me to think of a search that I have found so enjoyable. I want to also express our thanks to Nanette Blandin and Greg Gallagher of the search firm Isaacson Miller, who were outstandingly supportive of the search process at every stage and contributed greatly both to its tone and to its success.
I shall save for a letter later in the spring a fuller expression of our gratitude to the University of Pennsylvania for its hosting of the Society for the past seventeen years. There will also be another occasion on which to salute Adam Blistein’s service to the Society, and that of his—our—staff. But I urge anyone who was not able to be present at the plenary session in San Francisco to read the citation for his Distinguished Service Award and to join virtually in the instantaneous standing ovation he received on that occasion.
Roger Bagnall