A faculty panel yesterday approved Syracuse University Political Science Professor Linda Fowler's appointment as head of the Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences and as a tenured government professor.
The Advisory Committee to the President met yesterday afternoon and decided to recommend Fowler's appointment to the College's Board of Trustees.
Acting Dean of the Faculty Karen Wetterhahn, the agenda officer for the advisory committee, said Fowler accepted the College's appointment, effective this July 1.
"The [College's Board of] Trustees will make the final decision, but I think she is such a strong candidate that everybody is delighted for her acceptance," she said.
Fowler said from her home in Syracuse, N.Y. yesterday, "It's wonderful to have it all settled."
She said she will be meeting with the Board of Visitors of the Rockefeller Center on the weekend of January 21 and will outline some "broad ideas" of her plans.
"I won't be too visible until July 1," she said. "There is a very capable acting director [Roxanne Waldner] in charge now."
Geography Professor George Demko, who headed the Rockefeller Center from 1989 to last year, said Fowler "seems remarkably appropriate" for the job.
Wetterhahn said of Fowler, "Her scholarship and her record has been impeccable and I think there was never any question that she would be accepted."
Fowler received an informal offer to become the new head of the Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences in the fall, contingent upon her receiving tenure in the government department.
