Dean of Nicholas School to step down

Alan Townsend, dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment, announced his official resignation Monday.

Townsend initially took a leave of absence in the Fall due to health problems in his family. Jeffrey Vincent, Clarence F. Korstian professor of forest economics and management, has served as the interim dean since August. Townsend plans to return to a faculty position at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where he taught before becoming dean July 2014.

“The past couple years have been by far the most challenging period of my life, given the unexpected illness and passing of my wife, Diana, combined with health challenges for my daughter, Neva,” Townsend wrote in an email to Nicholas School faculty and staff in August. “This summer, new health issues have arisen, ones that will require focused attention in the coming months. I have discussed the situation with [Provost Sally Kornbluth] and [President Richard Brodhead] and, as always, they were exceptionally kind and supported and suggested that given the circumstances, I take a leave of absence for the fall term.”

In a Duke Today press release, Kornbluth said Vincent would continue to serve as interim dean until a new dean is selected, the search for whom will begin Fall 2017. 

“President Brodhead and I want to thank Alan for his exceptional service to the school under very trying personal circumstances. Jeff has been very generous in stepping up to take on the role of interim dean and already has moved ahead on strategic planning that will lay a solid foundation for the school going forward and for the next dean,” Kornbluth said in the release. 

Vincent previously served as chair of the Nicholas School’s division of environmental science and policy and is currently the co-chair of the master of forestry program.

“I came to Duke with high hopes and deeply humbled by the chance to lead the Nicholas School, and am proud of all we accomplished together—and it was together—over the past two years,” Townsend wrote in the release. “But as you all know, life changed tragically for my family, and that means my own path must change as well. Put most simply, giving the school and Duke everything you deserve from a dean would cut too much into my ability to give my children what they need in the next phase of their lives, and I am not willing to compromise either them or the school.”