Julia, Margolis Named to New Posts at Northwestern
Dear Colleague:
I am writing to announce two administrative changes at Northwestern, both of which bear on the Office of the Provost.
Effective January 1, Jake Julia will take up the position of Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives, while retaining his current position of Associate Vice President for Change Management, leading the Office of Change Management.
Also effective January 1, John Margolis will step down as Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs. President Bienen and I have asked Margolis to oversee the establishment of our branch campus in Qatar; and Margolis will become Dean and chief executive officer of Northwestern University in Qatar. He will be working on Qatar-related matters from an Evanston office during the winter and expects to take up residence in Doha sometime in the Spring.
Jake Julia joined Northwestern in 1996 as Director of Planning and Special Projects in the Office of Administration and Planning. In 2000, he was appointed Assistant Vice President for Change Management at the University and asked to lead the newly created Office of Change Management. Reporting jointly to the Provost and the Senior Vice President for Business and Finance, he has led the Office in facilitating numerous major change initiatives across the University, including the integration of Student Financial Services, the restructuring of administrative functions within The Graduate School, the replacement of the former GRATS program with the Research Assistants Scholarship (RAS) program, the creation, with Human Resource Development, of the new department chairs leadership development process, and multiple other efforts within and across Northwestern's schools and central support units. Julia became Associate Vice President in 2005. He is also a lecturer in both the School of Education and Social Policy and the School of Continuing Studies.
Having joined the Office in 1981, John Margolis has served as Associate Provost under three presidents and six provosts. A Professor of English, Margolis joined the Northwestern faculty in 1966. In 1975, he was appointed Associate Dean for Studies in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, where he established the Office of Studies, which oversees undergraduate academic affairs in the College. Among his initiatives in this capacity was the establishment of Northwestern's first foreign study programs. In 1981 he was appointed Associate Provost. In this capacity he has served as the principal staff person to a succession of Provosts and has had a hand in a host of initiatives, too numerous to enumerate. His fingerprints can be found on countless aspects of faculty and academic life which have strengthened Northwestern during the past quarter century, many of which we now take for granted.
I am delighted by the prospect of working more closely with Jake Julia as he formally joins the Provost's Staff to work on various important academic initiatives. Although I will miss working with John Margolis day-to-day as a member of the Provost's staff, I am pleased to know that we will continue to collaborate as we work to ensure the success of our Qatar initiative.
Given the imminence of John Margolis's departure from my office, I am conducting an expedited and informal search for a senior faculty colleague who might serve as Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs. Should you have any nominations, I would be grateful to hear from you within the next several days.
Sincerely,
Daniel Linzer
Provost