My public goodbye letter:
Apologies for the mass email, and a special "mea culpa" to David Bowie for copyright infringement.
Just a quick note to let you know of changes in my professional world. I came to ACC a little over 5 years ago, being "saved" from ISD by Elizabeth. Having been trained as an academic, the move to administration was challenging, but I had unparalleled colleagues beside me here to help in my re-education. During my tenure I'm proud of the many successes, as well as the occasional failures, as sometimes you have to screw something up in order to learn. As the Dalai Lama says, "when you lose, don't lose the lesson."
But this email isn't about the work, but rather a heartfelt "thank you" to all of you who have shared the journey. It is with a mix of sadness, excitement, and trepidation that I announce I will be resigning my position as managing director of ACC effective 31Dec05.
I would especially like to recognize Elizabeth for bringing into the fold here, and Liz Harmon for putting up with me for most of my stay. Kudos also to the various members of "core services", including Michael and the tech team, Anuj, Jameson, and John Z. And the rest of the staff and students here, both central and project-based, are as good as they come.
But before you fire up the party machine, I'm happy to also announce that I'll be joining the ACC as a research fellow effective 1Jan06 in a 50% position. I look forward to working with Jonathan in this new capacity to advance the research agenda of the Center. The other 50% of my time will be spent on various projects, likely at USC, some of which are still under development. As they say, "more will be revealed."
So thanks, goodbye, and hello. All in one email. I'm all about efficiency these days...
