IT’S STU! Schmill Appointed Admissions Dean
Ricardo Ramirez—The Tech
The next dean of admissions will be Stuart Schmill '86. Schmill has served as the interim director of admissions since Marilee Jones's abrupt resignation last April.
Dean for Undergraduate Education Daniel E. Hastings PhD '80 made the announcement Monday. Schmill was one of the three candidates recommended to Hastings by a search committee and was the only candidate internal to MIT.
President Emeritus Paul E. Gray '54, who chaired that committee, said that he was "delighted" with Hastings' choice.
Members of the committee, including Gray, said last week that the job should be held by someone who understands the Institute's culture. Schmill has fewer years of experience in admissions than the other two shortlisted candidates, but he has more than a decade of experience at MIT. "It's in his DNA," Gray said.
There is a "different intensity here, a different atmosphere academically at MIT," said Schmill in an interview last week.
Schmill has worked as MIT's head crew coach, director of the Parents Association, and director of the Educational Council.
This year, with Schmill as interim director, MIT received a record number of applications for freshman admission and had a record-low acceptance rate.
Last week, Schmill said that this year's selection process had been emotionally trying. "It's kind of like childbirth," he said. But, he said, the students he admitted are "a really, really talented class."
Schmill said Monday he was "really honored" and "quite thrilled" at the news. "I absolutely love this job," Schmill said. "I've had enormous fun over this past year."
Schmill will be the first MIT alumnus to lead the admissions office since Peter H. Richardson '48, who served as director of admissions from 1972 to 1984. Richardson was the director when Schmill was admitted, and "every time I see him I like to thank him," said Schmill.