For 15 years, Dean Raffaella Borasi skillfully has led the Warner School of Education through profound growth, including the construction of LeChase Hall and the start of the East High School project, and profound challenges that face schools of education in this country generally. It is unusual at the University of Rochester for a Dean to serve this long, and Raffaella, Peter Lennie, and I have discussed the best way to complete her extraordinarily consequential deanship and expand her service to further serve the University. The Warner School is now engaged in some critically important initiatives, most notably the one involving the renewal of East High School, and I am grateful that Dean Borasi has accepted my invitation to serve an additional two years as Dean until June 2018. Concurrently, I look forward to working with her and other University leadership to develop a vision and plan for continuing education for the entire University.
Dean Borasi has been a notably effective leader of the Warner School. Her steady hand has guided the School through challenging times. She has been a nimble and visionary administrator, as well, championing opportunities to expand the Warner School’s international and online programs to further the School’s influence and educational reach. She has been an energetic, purposeful, and patient leader, raising funds and overseeing the construction of the School’s magnificent new home in LeChase Hall. Her resolute commitment to the School, to its faculty and students, and to, in her words, “changing the face of education today,” is evident.
Today the Warner School is addressing one of the most significant projects in its history: the transformation of East High School in the Rochester City School District in the role of Educational Partnership Organization (EPO). Overseeing this undertaking requires continuity of leadership. In extending Dean Borasi’s term, we can ensure that she will be able to sustain the excitement and momentum that marks this critical project, and provide the stability essential for its success.
There will be time in the future to celebrate Dean Borasi’s exceptional leadership of the Warner School. At an appropriate time, there will be a national search for her successor. For now, I am delighted that Raffaella has agreed to accept my request that she extend her service as dean for two more years so that she can complete the vital work that has been the hallmark of her deanship, while also beginning to offer her unique talents and expertise to the university as a whole. I look forward her continued service to the University for many years.