On July 1st, Thomas James will conclude 12 years of distinguished service as Teachers College’s Provost, Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs. James was honored by TC’s Alumni Association at the College’s 2019 Academic Festival, where Marion Boultbee, President of the Alumni Council, read the following proclamation:

Be it resolved by the Teachers College Alumni Association that, in his role as Provost, Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Thomas James has made timeless and invaluable contributions to the intellectual and community life of Teachers College.

We applaud Provost James for his leadership role in:

• Hiring a new generation of Teachers College faculty who are recognized for shaping new paradigms in their fields;
• Driving cross-disciplinary innovation and the development of younger faculty through the creation of the TC Provost’s Investment Fund, the Rapid Prototyping Grants and other means.
• Enriching TC events and publications through his vast knowledge and broad perspective on education history, and the history of Teachers College in particular.
• Modeling a culture of collegiality, mutual respect and personal decency.

And be it further resolved that Provost James has served as a visionary in recognizing the importance of alumni as standard-bearers of the College on the front lines of their fields; as invaluable guides in drawing on their practice to shape and reshape the College’s course offerings, community outreach and impact; and as role models, mentors and friends to TC students.

In particular, we gratefully acknowledge Provost James for his role in enhancing all of our alumni programming – and, in particular, making Academic Festival itself the signature homecoming and vibrant community celebration that it is today. His efforts include:

• Suggesting the use of Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture as our inspiration in rebranding what was previously a more traditional homecoming poster session.
• Providing sage advice to the Alumni Council on innovative faculty as speakers and panelists, and how to better engage faculty in our programming in general.
• Suggesting and encouraging alumni of note to join us at Academic Festival as speakers, honorees and thought leaders.
• Bringing other celebrations to Academic Festival, including the Shirley Chisholm Dissertation Award Presentation and the Minority Post Doctorate Fellowship Talk that we are inaugurating today.
• Attending every single Academic Festival since this event’s inception, and presenting awards, reading citations, hosting plenary sessions, speaking on panels and serving in just about any other role when we need an extra hand!

Provost Thomas James: For these contributions, and for others too numerous to describe here, we, the Alumni Association of Teachers College, proudly present you with this medal in recognition of your distinguished service.