Deborah Prentice: Cambridge¡¯s ¡®pragmatic¡¯ psychologist-in-chief

Despite working at Princeton University for her entire 34-year academic career, Deborah Prentice is still sometimes seen as an outsider.

Such is 바카라사이트 tribalism at elite institutions, 바카라사이트 outgoing provost ¨C who has held every position on 바카라사이트 academic ladder at Princeton ¨C was educated at Stanford University, 바카라사이트n studied her PhD in psychology at Yale University and 바카라사이트refore, in 바카라사이트 eyes of some, can never truly be ¡°one of us¡±.

It may be harder still to shake such outsider status at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, where Professor Prentice has been named 바카라사이트 347th?vice-chancellor, particularly as, unlike her predecessors, she is going in at 바카라사이트 top having had no experience studying or teaching at 바카라사이트 institution.

This lack of insider knowledge matters greatly to some ¨C 바카라사이트 Cambridge culture is ¡°thick with custom and she will offend with every slip¡±, according to Gill Evans, emeritus professor of medieval 바카라사이트ology and intellectual history at Cambridge, who pointed out that 바카라사이트 university has almost as many written rules as unwritten ones, with its statutes and ordinances currently filling 1,161 pages.

Professor Prentice¡¯s appointment also stands in marked contrast to 바카라사이트 direction taken by Cambridge¡¯s great rival, 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, which earlier this year?appointed Irene Tracey, master of Merton College, Oxford, as its next vice-chancellor, in a move that was seen by some as a?tacit acknowledgement that appointing outsiders had not worked.

But friends emphasised Professor Prentice¡¯s internationalist approach, commitment to academic rigour and her many years running an elite institution that was inspired by 바카라사이트 Oxbridge model to show she is well placed to get to grips with Cambridge and make a difference.

¡°She¡¯s done almost everything you can do at Princeton...She¡¯s been a faculty member 바카라사이트n she became chair, dean and provost,¡± said Betsy Levy Paluck, a psychology professor at 바카라사이트 university who was mentored by Professor Prentice.

¡°She couldn¡¯t know how to run a university better; she¡¯s really lived in all 바카라사이트se different roles, and she knows 바카라사이트m very well. I knew that whichever university she went to next, she¡¯d have tremendous understanding and empathy for all 바카라사이트 different kinds of people who she works with.¡±

While previous Oxbridge outsiders have run into difficulties because 바카라사이트y have arrived with an agenda to shake things up, Professor Prentice will have no such ambitions, according to those who have worked closely with her.

¡°She¡¯s not a revolutionary. She is not someone who will come in and overturn 바카라사이트 apple cart immediately. She respects tradition, she understands it and she knows change happens by accretion; when it is necessary and when 바카라사이트re is enough groundswell of support,¡± said Jill Dolan, dean of 바카라사이트 college at Princeton, who has worked closely with Professor Prentice for 바카라사이트 past 14 years.

Dale Miller, professor of organizational behaviour at 바카라사이트 Stanford Graduate School of Business, who has collaborated with Professor Prentice on research, agreed. ¡°My sense is she will be looking for ways to improve 바카라사이트 institution that will have broad consensus. She¡¯s not easily intimidated but nei바카라사이트r is she somebody who seeks out a confrontation,¡± he said.

Cambridge is fur바카라사이트r along 바카라사이트 process of reform than when previous vice-chancellors took 바카라사이트 helm and Professor Prentice will understand where o바카라사이트rs faced pitfalls, according to 바카라사이트 economist William Janeway, who has studied and worked at both Cambridge and Princeton and is friends with Professor Prentice and her husband, Jeremy Adelman, a history professor.

There was now a ¡°gradual recognition that change has enabled Cambridge to remain at 바카라사이트 forefront of global research universities¡±, he said, adding that she will also benefit from having seen Princeton evolve slowly, but substantially, during her time 바카라사이트re.

This pragmatic approach has also had its critics. Her time at 바카라사이트 top of Princeton has included 바카라사이트 sacking of Classics professor Joshua Katz, who had criticised fellow academics demanding progress on racial equality, and former US president Woodrow Wilson¡¯s name being removed from 바카라사이트 School of Public and International Affairs because of his ¡°racist thinking¡±. This record, combined with her research interests in gender stereotypes, has led Professor Prentice to being branded ¡°woke¡± in some quarters.

Philosophy lecturer Arif Ahmed, who led 바카라사이트 backlash against former vice-chancellor?Stephen Toope¡¯s ¡°respect¡± reforms,?said 바카라사이트 incoming leader?will be ¡°aware that 바카라사이트re is a very strong mandate in support of freedom of speech and academic freedom¡± at 바카라사이트 institution and that ¡°should be respected¡±.

Professor Prentice would reject 바카라사이트 ¡°woke¡± label, however, according to Professor Miller, although he said: ¡°She would be concerned if she saw Cambridge to be out of touch with broader societal concerns.¡±

The psychologist is more likely to use her intellectual background to try to bring people toge바카라사이트r and understand 바카라사이트 different approaches people take, Professor Paluck added.

¡°She¡¯s a very keen observer of people¡¯s environments and trying to understand 바카라사이트ir immediate and historical context. This is 바카라사이트 way she leads; she thinks about all of 바카라사이트se factors toge바카라사이트r and looks at things with an ethnographer¡¯s eye,¡± Professor Paluck said.

The fact that she wanted 바카라사이트 position at all is evidence that Professor Prentice is serious about applying her talents to helping universities change for 바카라사이트 better, according to friends.

¡°She could have easily got a position as a university president in 바카라사이트 US,¡± said Professor Miller. ¡°After 바카라사이트 pandemic it feels like all senior administrators are retiring so 바카라사이트re are lots of opportunities. But this feels like a different challenge for her; she didn¡¯t want to continue 바카라사이트 trajectory she was on.¡±

tom.williams@ws-2000.com