Sally Dickson to Return to Stanford

DURHAM, N.C. -- Sally M. Dickson, who for the past three years has led Duke University's efforts to increase and maintain diversity within its community and to foster equal opportunity for all employees, faculty and students, is returning to Stanford to help that university recruit and retain a diverse faculty.

She will assume a newly created position as associate vice provost for faculty development and associate dean of humanities and sciences at Stanford, where she taught in the law school and political science department and held other positions for 12 years before coming to Duke. Her last post there was as director of Stanford's office of campus relations and office for multicultural development.

Dickson became Duke's vice president for institutional equity in July 2000. Heading a staff of more than a dozen people, she advised the leadership of both the university and the health system on cases involving individuals and on broader issues ranging from sexual harassment to the recruitment and retention of minority administrators.

"Most of the Duke community has seen Sally primarily in her role as head of the Office of Institutional Equity, which she has led ably," said Duke President Nannerl O. Keohane. "In addition, she has been a wise source of counsel to me as we've worked to create a campus that is diverse and free of discrimination. Whether the issue has been gender equity, work culture, affirmative action policies or something as specific as finding the right person for a particular job, Sally has been an essential member of our team. We'll miss her a lot, and wish her well at Stanford."

Dickson is an attorney who held positions at San Jose State University, Golden Gate University School of Law and New College of California before joining Stanford in 1988. She will remain at Duke through the end of the spring semester.