Dear Members of the Society for Classical Studies:
I write with an update on the Society’s Executive Director position. Two weeks ago I wrote to say that our long-serving Executive Director Helen Cullyer was stepping down effective December 1. Since then, we have been working to finalize the terms of appointment and to bring on board an interim Executive Director, whose role will be to guide the Society and keep it on track until we can appoint a permanent successor to Helen.
It gives me great pleasure to introduce John Vitali as our interim Executive Director. John has a long background in higher education and nonprofit administration. His résumé includes having served as Chief Financial Officer and Vice President for Finance and Administration at Drew University, and in a similar role at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (now merged with St. Joseph’s University). He also spent 13 years in a series of increasingly responsible financial and administrative roles at the Brooklyn Public Library, one of the largest public libraries in the country. He understands how academic and non-profit organizations work, and has deep experience in planning and executing large-scale events. John now works as a private consultant and takes on interim positions in non-profits, like ours, to help such organizations manage executive transitions. We have agreed that he will serve us for six months, with the possibility of two additional one-month extensions. We expect that this term of service will provide us the space we need to plan and execute a thoughtful, deliberate, consultative search for our next permanent Executive Director.
John is still in the process of being granted access to the buildings and systems at New York University (where the SCS main office is located) so that he can fully engage with the business of the Society. His e-mail is slated to be john.vitali@nyu.edu, but this address will not be active until the early to middle part of next week. Meanwhile, the SCS office phone number remains the same, and members may also e-mail the general info@classicalstudies.org address, which is monitored by SCS office staff and inquiries are directed appropriately. John will be present for the annual meeting in Chicago, and I hope those of you attending in person will take a moment to say hello to him there.
More information about the search for our next permanent Executive Director will be forthcoming in January. Best wishes to all for the end of term and holiday season, and I look forward to seeing many of you in Chicago.
Matthew Roller
SCS President, 2023
