In a close race with substantially lower turnout than five years ago, J. Robert Cooke, professor of agricultural and biological engineering, was elected dean of the Cornell faculty.
Cooke, elected to a three-year term, takes office July 1. A member of the university faculty for 32 years, he replaces Peter C. Stein, who was elected dean in 1993 and reappointed dean by the faculty in 1996. Also running were S. Kay Obendorf, professor of textiles and apparel, and Joseph M. Ballantyne, professor of electrical engineering and the Lester B. Knight Director of the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility.
"This vote was extraordinarily close, and the turnout was substantially lower than in the last election," said Kathleen Rasmussen, associate dean and chair of the Committee on Nominations and Elections. With 859 votes cast, or 41 percent, Cooke won by 35 votes. In 1993, 1,087 votes were cast.
"I am delighted with this opportunity to represent the faculty in the shaping of university policies and priorities," Cooke said. "Numerous fundamental policy issues and customs must be re-examined in the face of our institution-changing financial realities. I relish this opportunity to serve in the role of 'university citizen-at-large.'
"I hope to enable the creative talents and energy of the faculty in finding solutions to some decade-old problems that afflict Cornell but that are also endemic to all research universities. Cornell's public/private character will be a unique asset in our achieving distinction as the leading 'new American university.'"
The dean of the faculty is the representative of and spokesman for the faculty and the faculty's chief liaison on all matters in which the concerns of the faculty relate to the president, trustees or other parts of the campus community.
This was the first time that the faculty voted for dean under the Hare system, which asks that voters rank candidates in order of preference and requires the winner to have a majority, not plurality, of votes. Essentially, it took three votes for Cooke to emerge with a majority.
Under the Hare system, in the first round of tallying the votes, only first choices are counted. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, the candidate receiving the least number of votes is eliminated and the equivalent of a run-off election is held. If a voter's first candidate is not eliminated, that vote is unchanged. But if the voter's first choice is eliminated, that vote is then cast for the voter's second choice. The process was repeated twice before Cooke had a majority of votes, as Stein had a plurality of the first place votes after both the first and second rounds of vote counting.
Stein, professor of physics and nuclear studies, will return to the faculty following a long-deferred sabbatic leave.
"I am honored to have had the opportunity to be the spokesperson and advocate for the faculty for these past five years," Stein said. "During that time, faculty governance has been much strengthened. The senate has dealt responsibly with a number of important issues, and formal faculty participation in decision-making has become part of Cornell's landscape. I know that Bob Cooke shares a commitment to a full and positive partnership between the faculty and the administration, and I wish him all the luck in the world in carrying forward this important work."
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