Cristle Collins Judd will join the Bowdoin faculty as dean of academic affairs on July 1, replacing Craig McEwen, who has held the position for the past seven years. Judd will be visiting the campus a number of times this spring to work with McEwen before taking up the deanship.
Judd will be coming to Bowdoin from the University of Pennsylvania, where she has served as a professor of music since 1993.
"I will certainly draw on my experiences at Penn as I come to Bowdoin," Judd said in an interview with the Orient.
"Although the two places are very different institutions, I have learned much at Penn about supporting undergraduate research, about issues facing the liberal arts, about a variety of teaching and learning environments, about connecting with alumni, about recruiting and supporting faculty, and so forth," she said.
Judd earned her undergraduate degree in music performance at Rice University, where she studied the oboe. She also earned a master's degree in musicology at Rice. She went on to earn a second master's degree and her doctorate in music theory at King's College, University of London.
"In many ways, coming to Bowdoin is coming back to my undergrad roots at a small college," Judd said, referring to her undergraduate career at Rice.
According to Judd, Bowdoin's reputation was an important factor in her decision to seek a position at the College. She was also impressed by a short visit to Bowdoin, when she met a handful of Bowdoin faculty and students. Judd said she was especially impressed by President Barry Mills.
"[Mills] has an irrepressible energy and love for Bowdoin that is contagious," she said.
Prior to working at the University of Pennsylvania, she also served at Princeton University, California State University-Fresno, the University of Exeter, King's College, University of London in the United Kingdom, and the University of Melbourne in Australia.
Judd said that her extensive experience as a music professor will be very helpful in adjusting to her new position.
"Moving from the professorial ranks to administration will certainly mean adjusting the balance in my professional life and learning new skills, but I think that my life as a music professor has prepared me for many of those challenges in interesting ways," Judd said.
For now, Judd does not have any specific plans for her position as dean of academic affairs.
She said that she will try to establish a relationship with students and faculty before making any plans for what she would like to accomplish at Bowdoin.
"At this stage, it would be premature (and probably foolhardy) for me to talk about specific plans for my deanship. I'm fortunate to have the next six months to get to know the campus and faculty and students, to begin to understand the issues, and to discover those special things that are unique to Bowdoin's culture," Judd said.
Judd is excited to be moving to Maine with her family, including her husband and three daughters?Katie, 16; Hannah, 11; and Sarah, nine. Judd's husband, Robert Judd, is a musicologist and the executive director of the American Musicological Society.
Judd admitted some apprehension of the infamous Maine weather.
"As a native Texan, I confess the weather worries me a little, and my computer desktop has Philly and Brunswick weather side by side, and, well, I can see a love of snow in my future," Judd said.