From the Duke News Service

April 22, 1999

Duke University political science professor Peter Lange, who led an effort to expand the university's international role and recently chaired the first major revision of the undergraduate curriculum in more than a decade, has been named provost, Duke President Nannerl O. Keohane announced Thursday.

Lange, currently chairman of the political science department, was selected following a national search involving more than 150 candidates. His appointment was approved Wednesday by the executive committee of the university's board of trustees.

Lange will succeed John Strohbehn, who will complete his five-year term as the university's chief academic officer on June 30.

In a letter to the faculty informing them of Lange's appointment, Keohane said he "brings a record of intellectual energy, scholarship, and professional service — particularly service to Duke — that will stand him and our university in good stead as Duke's chief academic officer. He is a highly regarded political scientist whose work in comparative politics and international political economy has been widely recognized. He also is a fine teacher and has been an unusually successful department chair in political science for the past three years."

Keohane's letter noted that Lange has considerable knowledge of the provost's responsibilities from serving as vice provost for academic and international affairs, "where he provided skillful leadership in the earlier stages of Duke's current focus on internationalization. As vice provost, he played a critical role in the planning process that produced Shaping Our Future, the university's long-range plan that was adopted by the Board of Trustees in 1994. This year he chaired the committee that crafted the new Curriculum 2000 and brought it successfully to a favorable vote in the Arts and Sciences Council."

Lange said he appreciated the confidence shown in him by Keohane and is excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.

"As chief academic officer of the university, the provost must provide the strategic and intellectual leadership necessary to attain our goal of becoming one of America's truly preeminent universities," he said. "This will require innovative thinking, the highest standards, clearly articulated academic priorities and a firm commitment that all that we do in the university must be directed toward building the best faculty, attracting the finest students and attaining outstanding achievements in research and teaching. In doing so, the university will best be able to serve society.

"And it requires teamwork between the provost, the other senior officers, the deans and the faculties of the individual schools. The ultimate strength of the university rests not just on the individual quality of the schools but also on the strength that arises out of their interactions.

"As provost, I will work daily to assure that we do what we must to reach the lofty aspirations which are in reach. I look forward to working closely with the entire Duke community in this effort, which I hope inspires us all."

Lange, an expert on Western European politics and the political economies of advanced industrial societies, taught at Harvard University before coming to Duke as a visiting associate professor of political science in 1981. He joined the permanent faculty in 1982, and has held many leadership positions since then.

As vice provost for academic and international affairs, Lange helped Duke expand its international curricula and its recruitment of foreign students. The new Curriculum 2000 that he spearheaded places more rigorous graduation requirements on students in Duke's Trinity College beginning with those entering in the fall of 2000. The new requirements, approved this past January, include foreign language courses, intensive writing and research experiences in and outside the major, and broader and deeper study of ethical, cross-cultural and science and society issues.

The purpose, Lange said, is to better prepare Duke students for a world that is more cosmopolitan and requires understanding of new areas of knowledge and stronger critical thinking skills. William Chafe, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, praised Lange's handling of the difficult review, and said that in passing the new curriculum, Duke was taking the lead in higher education in tackling important curricular issues.

Keohane stressed that Lange's in-depth knowledge of Duke, combined with his willingness to listen, make him particularly well suited to his new responsibilities. Lange has served as a member of the Provost's Committee on Academic Priorities and the President's Advisory Committee on Resources. He also has represented the faculty on the board of trustees' Business and Finance Committee, and served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Graduate School and as a member of the Academic Council, including service on the council's executive committee.

"His leadership on these critical governance committees and his experience in the provost's office gives him a perspective on the academic challenges and opportunities facing Duke beyond Arts and Sciences ...," Keohane's letter to the faculty stated.

Lange's most recent scholarly work is co-editor of, and author in, Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism (Cambridge University Press, 1998).

Since 1991, he has served as editor of Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics. In 1986, he served as a visiting professor at the University of Milan as a Fulbright Research Scholar. He is the recipient of a bachelor of arts degree from Oberlin College and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Lange was one of four candidates recommended as finalists for Keohane's consideration by a search committee chaired by Professor Kathleen Smith of the department of biological anthropology and anatomy.

[back to main news page]