Cornell President Hunter R. Rawlings today (Feb. 2) announced that he will submit to the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees his nomination of Biddy (Carolyn A.) Martin as University Provost, effective July 1, 2000. Martin will succeed Don M. Randel, who has been named the new president of the University of Chicago.

"Biddy Martin has had an outstanding scholarly and teaching career at Cornell," said Rawlings. "She has excelled in every assignment entrusted to her care, and has won the admiration of faculty, students and staff throughout the university. Her most recent role as senior associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences has given her substantial exposure to university-wide issues that will prove most valuable in her new role as provost. I look forward to working closely with her on a day-to-day basis as a colleague and a friend."

On December 20, 1999, Rawlings wrote to every member of the Cornell faculty, soliciting comments on the role of the Provost as well as nominations for the position. He noted his appreciation for the many constructive responses that he received and said that they were most helpful in making his decision.

Martin expressed enthusiasm on her nomination: "I am honored to have been asked to serve as Provost and delighted at the prospect of working with the president, the members of the central administration, and the deans, faculty, and students of all our colleges. It is an exciting and challenging time for the university, and I look forward to working to enhance the strength and richness of our programs and the diversity of our community."

Philip E. Lewis, the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, offered the following comment on Martin's designation: "Biddy Martin is a brilliant scholar of international stature in the fields of German studies and women's studies. During her more than 16 years here at Cornell, she has proven herself to be a charismatic teacher and a formidably articulate spokesperson for the cause of liberal education. She is also a colleague of exceptionally strong commitment and high integrity in whom the members of this community can place their unreserved confidence. President Rawlings is fortunate to be able to enlist her as his principal partner in preserving Cornell's great traditions and in promoting educational innovation. Her associates in the university administration can anticipate with pleasure the ebullient personality, generous spirit, and beneficent leadership she will bring to the office of the provost."

Martin, professor of German studies and women's studies, has served as senior associate dean of the College of Arts & Sciences since 1997. A member of the Cornell faculty since 1983, her previous administrative responsibilities have included serving as the chair of the Department of German Studies from 1994-1997, associate director of the Program of Women's Studies 1993-94, graduate field representative for German studies 1991-96, and as graduate field representative 1992-96 and co-founder of the field of lesbian and gay studies. She was the recipient of the prestigious Clark Distinguished Teaching Award of the College of Arts and Sciences in 1990.

Martin is the author of numerous books and articles, including Femininity Played Straight: The Significance of Being Lesbian and Woman and Modernity: The (Life)Styles of Lou Andreas-SalomŽ. She is presently collaborating with Carol Maxwell Miller of Cornell's psychology department on a book on child analysis and play therapy that explores the relationship between traditional psychoanalysis and contemporary definitions of play and analysis. She is the editor of New German Critique, an interdisciplinary journal of German culture studies, and has served or serves on the editorial boards and staff of such publications as Studies in Gender and Sexuality, New German Critique, Gay and Lesbian Quarterly, Diacritics, Signs, and Women in German.

She received her Ph.D. summa cum lauda in German literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985 and her B.A. in English literature from the College of William and Mary in 1973, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She is a native of Lynchburg, Virginia.