Suzanne Keen, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty, will be departing from Hamilton College to join Scripps College as their tenth president. President Wippman sent an announcement regarding Keen’s departure on Nov. 18, citing her leave as “a great loss for Hamilton.” Keen, who was appointed to Hamilton’s faculty in July 2018, had a distinguished career inside and outside of the College.
At Hamilton, Keen worked on a number of groups intended to improve the learning experience at Hamilton. She launched the Hamilton Academy program, with the goal of providing a space for faculty and staff to have open discussions over the best strategies for professional development. She was also an active supporter of AHA! (Autonomous Hamilton Affinity) Groups. The program provides funding to faculty members with projects that work to better the Hamilton community, placing importance on diversity, equity and inclusion development. Keen was also a representative for Hamilton on the Liberal Arts Collaborative for Digital Innovation and on the NESCAC, New York Six and Northeast Deans organizations.
“I am immensely proud of the brilliant Hamilton College faculty,” says Keen, “I have had a hand in hiring several dozen new faculty, with good results in hiring great people from under-represented groups. That’s been a fulfilling effort — it’s the work of many hands. I have enjoyed raising funds for the humanities, for Book Arts, for new faculty lines and for the new Special Collections Outreach Librarian. It has been a tremendous pleasure supporting the Wellin Museum of Art and engaging with the world-class artists whose work has been featured in solo shows there.”
Keen holds an esteemed position in the literature field, with widespread publications about topics ranging from contemporary British fiction to narrative empathy. Her book,
Thomas Hardy’s Brains
:
Psychology, Neurology, and Hardy’s Imagination
, published in 2014, considered for a Christian Gauss Award. Before working at Hamilton, Keen received her Bachelor’s degree at Brown University, where she was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society. She received her Ph.D. in English language and literature at Harvard University. She held teaching positions at Yale University as well as Washington and Lee University, where she was promoted to Dean of the College in 2013.
Keen’s newest role will be at Scripps College, a private women’s liberal arts college in California. Their mission statement is “to educate women to develop their intellects and talents through active participation in a community of scholars, so that as graduates they may contribute to society through public and private lives of leadership, service, integrity, and creativity.” Keen resonates strongly with this mission, as she looks forward to working in a women-empowering environment.
When describing what she most looks forward to in her new role, Keen reports, “As a feminist scholar and woman in senior administration, I am so excited about leading a woman-centered college. Scripps is the women’s college of the Claremont Colleges. And now that the snow is falling, it would be dishonest of me not to mention the sunny southern California weather. There are citrus fruits and olives growing on the Scripps campus.”
Keen’s notable work at Hamilton College will make her position hard to fill. President Wippman’s email explains that there will be a national search conducted to find her successor. Assisted by Isaacson Miller, the goal will be to find a new Dean of Faculty by July.
When asked what she will most miss about the Hamilton community, Keen responded “I will most of all miss my many friends on the faculty, administration and staff. I will be counting on all of them to post pictures of the fall colors, the blanket of snow and the Saunders peonies in bloom so I can vicariously enjoy the four seasons on the Hill.”
The Hamilton community wishes her congratulations and the best of luck in her new role at Scripps College!
