Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.

Friedlander to Step Down on June 30

HASS DEAN
Friedlaender to Step Down
Dr. Ann F. Friedlaender has announced that she will step down as dean of 
the School of Humanities and Social Science on  June 30, to return to 
teaching and research in the Department of Economics.
Professor Friedlaender, who became MIT's first woman academic dean in 
September 1984, announced her decision earlier this month to the 
Academic Council and the School Council.
"During the past months I have given considerable thought to the future 
of MIT and the role I would like to play in it," she said in a letter to 
her colleagues. "I plan to return to the Economics Department to teach, 
do research, pursue my interests in economics and public policy, and 
strengthen the intellectual links between the department and the rest of 
the school and Institute."
She added her view that a new dean."should work with a new 
administration to define and strengthen the role of the humanities and 
social sciences at MIT for the coming decade."
As dean, she has been deeply involved in the ongoing reassessment of the 
undergraduate program. She played a leading role in bringing about 
curriculum changes that strengthened the humanities,  arts and social 
science core requirement for graduation while also establishing a minor 
in those areas.
The provost, Professor John M. Deutch, said that Professor Friedlaender 
"has been one of the best deans to have graced MIT in its history.
"She is a person of enormous wisdom and her accomplishments for the 
school have been just as enormous," he said. "She will be sorely missed 
by all of us and I wish her the best in her future scholarly 
activities."
Dr. Deutch said he and President Paul E. Gray have under consideration 
"the process and timing of the selection of a new dean."
Dr. Friedlaender, who holds dual appointments as professor in the 
Departments of Economics and Civil Engineering, served as head of the 
economics department from January, 1983, until her appointment as dean. 
She was the first woman to head an MIT academic department. 
As an economist, Dr. Friedlaender is widely known for her work in the 
field of public finance, with a specialization in transportation 
studies.
She received a BA in economics from Radcliffe College in 1960 and PhD in 
economics from MIT in 1964. She was a Fulbright Lecturer in 1964-65 at 
Svenska Handelshogskolan in Helsinki, Finland. Between 1965 and 1974 she 
was lecturer, assistant professor and professor in the Department of 
Economics at Boston College. She was a visiting professor in the MIT 
Department of Economics in 1972-73 before being appointed professor of 
economics and civil engineering in 1974.
Professor Friedlaender has served on committees and boards of a number 
of public and professional organizations, among them the American 
Economic Association, the National Bureau of Economic Research and  the 
National Science Foundation. 
She has been a member of the boards of several professional economics 
journals and she has written or coauthored seven books and monographs. 
The most recent include Transport Regulation: Equity, Efficiency and 
Competition, with Richard Spady (1981); and Government Finance, with 
John F. Due (7th Edition, Richard D. Irwin, 1981).
Dean Friedlaender  resides in Newton, Mass.,  with her husband, Stephen, 
an architect. They have two sons, Lucas and Nathaniel.