deans, administrators discuss experience working with Monaco

by Aaron Gruen Executive News Editor

As University President Anthony Monaco prepares to leave Tufts alongside the Class of 2023, the Daily reached out to senior members of the administration to get a sense of his leadership style and character. While much of the Tufts community’s interactions with Monaco have been in passing, if at all, those who know him well described the outgoing president as “principled,” “conscientious” and “brilliant,” among other ways.

James Glaser, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, has worked with Monaco since he became university president in 2011. He told the Daily that Monaco leads with “great clarity.”

“You know where he stands. You know what the goals and priorities are,” Glaser wrote in an email to the Daily. “He’s persuasive that those goals and priorities are the right ones, and that makes it easy to work together to reach them.”

Kyongbum Lee, dean of the School of Engineering, said that Monaco leads decisively with a strong sense of values, persuading those who work with him by appealing to their sense of mission and purpose.

“He led the university with conviction that our words and actions should be aligned with our mission and values,” Lee wrote in an email to the Daily. “During a tumultuous time when cynicism has increased in our national discourse, he took clear, principled stances on a number of issues of importance to the Tufts community, and encouraged students to take actions on their own principles.”

Caroline Genco, provost and senior vice president ad interim, recalled meeting Monaco for the first time in 2015 when she was chair of the immunology department at Tufts University School of Medicine.

“Tony took the time to meet with all department heads individually at TUSM that year to learn about our work, needs, and priorities firsthand,” Genco wrote in an email to the Daily. To this day, she added, “he has continued leading through community-building” and “always puts people and our community first.”

“His ground-up, community-oriented approach to leadership demonstrates his commitment to civic engagement and service,” Genco wrote.

UNIVERSITY