Comings and goings
- Lou Leonard, dean of the Falk School of Sustainability and Environment at Chatham University, in Pennsylvania, has been named dean of the School of Climate, Environment, and Society at Clark University, in Massachusetts.
- Sarah Soule, a professor of organizational behavior and director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, has been named dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
To submit a new-hire announcement, email people@chronicle.com.
Footnote
Pity poor Hannah Bechtold, senior director of administration and operations in the president’s office at Ohio State, who had to deal with the university’s spring commencement speaker.
That commencement speaker, the entrepreneur Christopher Pan, has become infamous for delivering an unorthodox presentation on stage. He rambled about conflict resolution, sang, danced, and, because of course he did, hawked bitcoin. And, also because of course he did, he’s admitted to writing his speech while using ayahuasca.
The eccentric behavior didn’t appear out of thin air. Pan’s talks with university administrators in the run-up to commencement day were doozies, according to correspondence obtained by The Chronicle.
“I am not interested in giving a speech. I am beyond thrilled for the opportunity to change lives,” Pan wrote at one point. At another, he asked for fireworks and an appearance by the university’s marching band, calling his visions “more half-time show.”
And poor Bechtold was the one who had to say no.
“Unfortunately, we cannot arrange for fireworks at one week out,” she replied.
Bechtold also dissuaded the speaker from offering her and her colleagues public thanks during his address.
“Your acknowledgment is appreciated, but we prefer to remain in the background,” she wrote.
Have truer words ever been written?