GFD Faculty

The GFD Faculty collectively governs the GFD Program as described in the bylaws, which are publicly available on the WHOI GFD website. Its members have associations with the Program that range from several years to decades. The currently elected GFD Faculty is listed on the GFD webpage. A subgroup of the Faculty serves as an Executive Committee (EC). The present members of this committee are Claudia Cenedese (co -PI, WHOI), Pascale Garaud (UCSC), Bruce Sutherland (U. Alberta), Greg Chini (U. New Hampshire), and Stefan Llewellyn Smith (UCSD). Short vitae of the EC members are given in the Facilities, Equipment and Other Resources section. The EC has four key responsibilities. The first, every five years, is to solicit GFD Faculty nominations for summer themes, their Directors and Principal Lecturers. The second is to support the Directors of a specific summer, sharing knowledge and good practice in the running of a successful summer, including providing academic support and ensuring the well-being of the Fellows. The third is to promote the Program more widely, increasing its visibility and exploring possibilities for the Program’s enhancement and support. The fourth is to lead the preparation of funding proposals. Working beside the EC are the rest of the GFD faculty. This group of scientists is constantly evolving, as new members are regularly elected and others step out, thus ensuring a constant influx of new energy and ideas into the Program. Election of a new faculty member is a simple process by which a candidate is nominated by one of the current GFD faculty, supported by at least five others, and then voted on by everyone.

The Directors are responsible for the detailed scientific organization of a particular summer, with the help and support of the EC and an interested subset of the faculty. This includes, in particular, making the final selection of the student Fellows and setting the seminar schedule for the Program’s long- and short-term visitors. GFD faculty receive an automatic invitation to each Program with an offer for subsistence funding from the GFD grant, should they need it. GFD faculty are encouraged to participate in the Program for at least one whole summer during each five-year cycle, though some serve primarily in an advisory role.

We have found that this structure helps maintain continuity, high scientific standards, and an interdisciplinary emphasis, while at the same time allowing flexibility in the organization of individual summers that promotes the continual evolution of the overall program. Since the themes, Directors and participants change every year, no two summers are exactly alike.