IU announced that Rick Van Kooten will be stepping down from his role as executive dean of Indiana University Bloomington’s College of Arts and Sciences Aug. 1 in a IU Bloomington Today release on Tuesday. He has served in this role since July 2019.
Van Kooten will be appointed as a special advisor to Chancellor David Reingold, with Caroline Chick Jarrold, associate dean for natural and mathematical sciences and research, to serve as interim executive dean of the college Aug. 1, as appointed by Interim Provost John Ciorciari.
In an email to the college faculty and staff, Van Kooten acknowledged the transition was not one he initiated.
“This was not a change I sought, and it is not easy to leave work that has been so meaningful to me,” Van Kooten wrote.
Van Kooten previously served for five years as chair of the college’s department of physics, four years as vice provost for research at IU Bloomington and is recognized nationally and internationally as an experimentalparticle physicist who has held appointments at CERN and Fermilab, according to the release.
In the release, Reingold thanked Van Kooten for his leadership in the college.
“Rick is among the longest-serving arts and sciences deans in the Big Ten and a champion of liberal arts education and Indiana University,” Reingold said. “His deep connections across this campus position him well to continue to elevate IU Bloomington in his new role.”
As a special adviser to the chancellor, Van Kooten will work on “strengthening the basic and natural sciences at IU Bloomington,” while collaborating with the IU School of Medicine and the IU Launch Accelerator for Biosciences.
Jarrold will step in as IU Bloomington conducts formal searches for a permanent dean of the college, with details about the search process and committee expected to be announced this fall.
Jarrold, a chemistry adjunct professor, has taught at IU since 2002. She holds the Class of 1948 Herman B Wells Endowed Professorship in Chemistry and was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2023.
Ciorciari said Jarrold’s experience makes her well suited for the new role.
“Caroline is a first-rate scholar and respected academic leader,” Ciorciari said in the release. “Her commitment to excellence in research and teaching across the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences will make her an outstanding interim executive dean of the College.”
Van Kooten will host a Zoom meeting for the college faculty and staff on Thursday, June 18 at 2:30 p.m. to discuss the transition and answer questions.
