College

Green Recognized for Leadership

Green

For the first time in more than three decades, students in the College at Rochester will begin their studies this fall without the inspiration and guidance of William Scott Green.

Recognized as one of the pivotal shapers of the undergraduate experience at Rochester for 32 years, the dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering announced that he’s joining the University of Miami as the school’s senior vice provost and dean of undergraduate education this summer.

“Bill Green is a great innovator and national leader in undergraduate education,” President Joel Seligman noted during a University-wide gathering this spring to honor Green for his contributions to Rochester.

“His achievements in those endeavors have strengthened our College as he shaped the Rochester Curriculum and developed the Renaissance Plan,” said Seligman. “He has served the College as teacher, national scholar of religion and classics, and eloquent advocate for the values of a liberal education for more than 30 years. In the blossoming of our entrepreneurial activities, Bill has contributed in vital ways to integrating that vision across our campuses.”

Green, who joined the University in 1974 and was appointed professor of religion in 1985, founded the Department of Religion and Classics, which combines the study of the world’s great religions with the languages of their canons. In 1991, he was named the Philip S. Bernstein Professor of Judaic Studies.

He led the development and creation in the 1990s of both the Rochester Curriculum—a unique program reflecting the College’s philosophy for a liberal arts education—and the Quest Program, a set of special courses for freshman and sophomore students.

He also was chair of the Residential College Commission, which in the past few years examined all aspects of the undergraduate program within the College.

Green headed the Center for Judaic Studies and was educational director of the archaeological excavations at Yodefat, Israel, cosponsored by the University and the Israel Antiquities Authority. He has written extensively on the history of Judaism and on higher education, and is associate editor of the HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion and coeditor of the Encyclopedia of Religion.

“Bill Green has absolutely transformed undergraduate education at Rochester,” said Provost Charles Phelps. “I can’t imagine anyone with a better grasp of the totality of undergraduate education and the accompanying life experience that undergraduate education means here. He has made us far better than we would have been without his guidance.”