In an email sent to the Tufts University School of the Museum of Fine Arts student body, Nancy Bauer, dean of the SMFA, announced that she would be stepping down from her position at the end of the fall 2021 semester.
Bauer joined the Tufts faculty as a professor of philosophy in 1998, a position that she continues to hold. She became dean of academic affairs for the School of Arts and Sciences in 2012, and that role included managing the relationship between Tufts and the SMFA, before the institutions merged.
“My goal was to do everything I possibly could to provide our students, faculty, and staff the best possible experience,” Bauer wrote in the email. “This kind of work is never-ending, and I look forward to continuing it during the Fall term.”
Bauer announced that she plans to work on a book about the philosophy of higher education once she steps down from her position at the SMFA at the end of the fall 2021 semester. She will then return to the philosophy department, where she has taught for more than 20 years.
“I’m looking forward not only to turn to full-time teaching and research but also to continuing to collaborate with my beloved colleagues at SMFA,” Bauer said. “I also will be teaching classes in the philosophy of art, and these classes will be cross-listed with SMFA’s department of Visual and Material Studies.”
Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences James Glaser shared in an email with the Daily that Tufts will identify Bauer’s successor as dean of the SMFA with the help of a search firm and an internal search committee composed of faculty, staff and administrators.
