To Alumni and Friends of the College of Arts and Sciences:

Joy K. Ward, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Case Western Reserve University

I am honored to join Case Western Reserve University as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. I have long admired this great institution, and I am grateful for the opportunity to make it my professional home, just as I am delighted to make Cleveland my family’s home.

Since January when I accepted this position, the world has been thrown into upheaval, and I confess that it is a daunting time to assume this role. In the months before I arrived, I conferred regularly with President Barbara R. Snyder, Provost Ben Vinson III and Interim Dean Sandra Russ and was proud to learn of the extraordinary efforts of the College community to support our students. Your support enabled us to respond with enhanced teaching capabilities and outreach to students that kept our educational mission strong.

The importance of alumni and friends of the College of Arts and Sciences cannot be overstated. We are creating leaders here who will change the world and make it a safer and more just and equitable place. Our students’ success depends greatly on those who have gone before and now lead by example. That’s why your leadership and engagement matter today more than ever. Mentoring students, getting involved in the alumni career network, advocating for the college and hiring recent graduates are all great ways to give back. Thank you for your support of us in these capacities, as you are an essential part of our efforts to strengthen the College’s efforts in teaching and research.

I am also thankful for your many gifts to the College. Your support really makes a difference and we need you as partners in our future growth. One example is your recent support for the Dean’s Rapid Response Fund as part of the university’s annual Day of Giving. The fund will help provide our students with many of the tools they need to succeed in a learning environment made more challenging by COVID-19. Your support has built the College into what it is today and will be instrumental to catapulting us to what’s ahead.

I begin this journey with great hope and a strong sense of purpose. We are living in a moment when the value of scientific inquiry, humanistic understanding and artistic creativity could not be clearer, and when the task of providing students with an outstanding education could not be more vital. The College’s interdisciplinary scope makes it an invaluable resource to the university and the global community as a whole, and I am excited to lead it.

In the course of the meetings and conversations that will soon fill my calendar, I am eager to hear your thoughts on moving forward in all of these areas. And as always, please reach out to us through your alumni engagement team, including Brian Browne, senior director of alumni engagement and stewardship, at 216.368.3549 or brian.browne@cwru.edu to learn how to get more involved and share your input. I look forward to getting to know all of you in the near future.

Sincerely,
Joy K. Ward
Dean