The Emory Wheel Since 1919
Emory University’s Independent Student Newspaper
Volume 107, Issue 1
Printed every other Wednesday
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
‘A very rocky time’: Emory leadership turnover outpaces all peer institutions Sasha Emmerich/Deputy Illstration Editor
By Irene John Asst. News Editor Emory University has experienced significant leadership changes over the past year, with five schools that need to seek permanent deans. During this academic year, three deans have departed from their roles, in addition to the appointment of Leah Ward Sears (80L), who is serving as interim university president. Across the nation, university administrations are facing funding instability from the federal government. In the past year, U.S. President Donald Trump has moved to freeze federal funding for many universities and colleges, resulting in heightened pressure on administrators and contributing to uncertainty within higher education. The Emory Wheel compiled data on Emory and its similar peer institutions’ leadership turnover since 2000, based on their status as private universities, class size and their U.S. News and World Report Best National University ranking. Among the universities analyzed, presidents at peer institutions served an average tenure of 11.9 years. Those universi-
ties had an average of 2.8 presidents since 2000, with most tenures lasting over a decade. In comparison, Emory has had four permanent presidents with an average tenure of 7.75 years served. After former University President Gregory Fenves transitioned to the role of chancellor on Sept. 1, 2025, the University will have to find a permanent replacement. Additionally, several of the University’s schools have cycled through different deans over the past two decades. Emory College of Arts and Sciences (ECAS), Oxford College and Nell Hodgson School of Nursing deans are currently serving in interim positions. Likewise, the Candler School of Theology and the Goizueta Business School will have to find new leaders as Mary Lee Hardin Willard Dean of Candler School of Theology Jonathan Strom and Goizueta Dean Gareth James will be stepping down this summer. The average tenure of current Emory dean appointments, excluding interim positions, across all schools is just under 2 years served when including interim deans and 3.6 years served when excluding them. Among Emory’s 10 peer
universities, the average tenure for deans, excluding interims, is 5.89 years served. Of all universities surveyed, Northwestern University (Ill.) deans, excluding interims, had the longest average tenure of deans at 8.05 years served. In comparison, Duke University (N.C.) had the lowest average tenure outside of Emory at an average of 4.08 years served. Candler has to find a new dean as Strom is stepping down from his role as his two-year term is expiring this summer. Like Strom, James is stepping down after this semester. James is departing Emory to become the next dean of the University of California, Los Angeles’s Anderson School of Management. Following Barbara Krauthamer’s resignation from the role of ECAS dean due to “personal reasons” on Jan. 2, Interim Dean Joseph Crespino has been leading ECAS. Crespino joined Emory in 2003. Before Krauthamer, former ECAS Dean Michael Elliot departed in 2022 to become the president of Amherst College (Mass.). Crespino is the sixth person to serve as interim or permanent dean of ECAS since
2000, with the average tenure being five years. Interim Nursing School Dean Lisa Muirhead took over for former Dean Linda McCauley (79N), who was Emory’s longest-tenured dean. McCauley served since 2009 and retired at the end of 2025. Before McCauley, former Nursing School Dean Marla Salmon held the position from 1999 to 2009, leaving to become the dean of the University of Washington School of Nursing. Out of the Emory deans currently serving, Emory’s Laney Graduate School’s dean has served the longest, with Dean Kimberly Jacob Arriola (01PH) currently serving her fifth year in the role. She replaced former Laney Dean Lisa Tedesco in 2020, who led Laney for 14 years. At the Rollins School of Public Health M. Daniele Fallin has served as the James W. Curran Dean since 2022. The next year, Emory University School of Law named Richard Freer as its dean. Freer has been part of the law school faculty since 1983, replacing Mary Anne Bobinski, who completed a five-year term as the law school’s leader in 2024.
More recently, Emory School of Medicine Dean Sandra Wong began her term in March 2024, joining Emory from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (N.H.). Former School of Medicine Dean Vikas Sukhatme stepped down after serving for five years. In addition to dean turnover, this November, Emory promoted Badia Ahad to a two-year term as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, after a national search that “failed,” according to Sears. Ahad formerly served as Oxford College dean before becoming provost, and began in the role in August 2023. Following Ahad’s transition, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of English and American Studies Molly McGehee filled the open role of interim Oxford College dean. In an email to The Emory Wheel, Associate Director of University Communications Rachel Smith wrote that Emory is continuing its search for its next administrative leaders. “Each leadership transition is
See EMORY, Page 2
‘ICE isn’t welcome here’: SFS holds anti-ICE walkout, community members protest nationwide policies By Ellie Fivas Editor-in-Chief Since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, about one year ago, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have increased their presence nationwide. On Jan. 7, an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, sparking nationwide outrage. This reaction has spread to Emory University, where about 70 community members gathered in Asbury Circle on Tuesday to protest against these recent actions by ICE. Emory Students for Socialism (SFS) organized the event with speakers from Sunrise Emory and the Atlanta branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. According to Emory SFS organizers Tasfia Jahangir (23PH, 29G) and
Siya Kumar/News Editor
Community members gathered on Jan. 21 to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Tony Torres (29C), introduced the demonstration and said that, in part, Good’s murder motivated the protest, along with other recent nationwide events. The protest on Emory’s campus was one of 12 student dem-
onstrations in the Atlanta area. “We are living through a moment of profound crisis,” Jahangir said. “Our fundamental rights are under attack on every front, from our workplaces to our neighborhoods, from
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our schools to our home.” Jahangir also emphasized the connection between anti-ICE sentiments and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which was on Jan. 19, highlighting King’s legacy of fighting oppression.
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“Dr. King devoted his life to fighting what he called ‘the three evils of society,’ what I call the three evils of capitalism, racism, war and poverty,” Jahangir said. “These same evils define the agenda that we are up against today.” After Jahangir and Torres kicked off the demonstration, they invited Anayancy Ramos (28G) to share her experience with citizenship status. Ramos is a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, which means that, although Ramos’ undocumented immigrant parents brought her to the United States as a young child, she is permitted to stay in the United States through the DACA program. Ramos implored the crowd to stand up for immigrant rights, especially in the context of a heightened presence of
See COMMUNITY, Page 3
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