Social Sciences Dean Kosslyn Departs

Lindsley professor of psychology Stephen M. Kosslyn [3], dean of social science [4] in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) since 2008 [5], will depart to become director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, at Stanford, effective January 1. The center’s announcement is here [6]. Kosslyn, former chair of Harvard’s psychology department, earned his Ph.D. from Stanford in 1974; a cognitive neuroscientist, he investigates visual perception and communication (see his laboratory website [7] here).

As divisional dean for social science, Kosslyn initiated efforts to understand and disseminate best teaching practices, and was planning a summer social-sciences immersion institute for undergraduates, similar to the PRISE program for students concentrating in the sciences [8] (read FAS dean Michael D. Smith's annual report description of these activities here [9], at pages 23-24). As reported in Harvard Magazine, Kosslyn recently led a symposium dedicated to identifying the principal "hard problems" social scientists seek to understand and resolve [10], and had hosted a series of faculty-led conversations on contemporary issues, including this forum on the recession and economic prospects [11].