Dear friends

This is the last letter I will write to you as dean. It comes at the end of six of the most interesting, challenging, and fulfilling years of my life. As you can imagine, it comes with a complicated set of emotions, three of which stand out.

One emotion is surprise. I still wake up astonished to find myself as dean, entrusted with such a large and precious enterprise. And now I’m astonished that I’m moving on from the place that has defined my professional career. Though I see the evidence of an impending move, the reality of that move has not really sunk in.

The second emotion is satisfaction. The College has accomplished real and enduring things over the last six years. We have hired over a hundred faculty across all our departments. We have created the January Term and overhauled advising. We have opened beautifully restored buildings and begun construction of the South Lawn, the physical embodiment of the community that defines U.Va.

The third, and dominant, emotion is gratitude. I am grateful to my colleagues, who inspire me every day with their dedication to our students and to discovery. I am grateful to my good friends in the dean’s office, who run an operation of great subtlety and complexity with remarkable skill, poise, and humor. I am grateful to my College Foundation Board members, who have been so generous with their time, good will, and gifts. I am grateful to Abby, my wife, who has so gracefully shared the sacrifices demanded by this job. And I am grateful to all of you — our students, parents, and alumni — who are the reason so many of us cheerfully dedicate ourselves to this place. Thank you.

Edward L. Ayers
Hugh P. Kelly Professor of History
Dean of the College and Graduate School
of Arts & Sciences