On Sept. 15, the Office of the Provost announced that after eight years in the position, Associate Provost and Professor of Chemistry Sheryl Hemkin will step down from the position at the end of this academic year. After a sabbatical, Hemkin will return to the Department of Chemistry and work in the classroom again.

“The best part of this job is working with my fellow faculty and staff,” Hemkin wrote in an email regarding the associate provost position. “The majority of the responsibilities of the Provost’s Office relate to supporting faculty and staff in their work as teachers and scholars, and I have been greatly heartened to learn of everyone’s dedication to the College’s mission of helping students learn and develop strong foundations for lives of purpose and consequence.”

She explained, “The position of Associate Provost is designed to rotate among faculty. The responsibilities of this position enable one to get a better understanding of the workings of the College and gain perspective on why the institution does what it does. Ideally, I can help provide some of this background and insight to my colleagues as we go forward.”

Hemkin is a physical chemist and has been at Kenyon since 2003. “Working with students has always been the highlight of my time here,” she wrote. “During my years in the Provost’s Office, I continued to advise and mentor in research, and I am excited to return to the classroom where I will have more opportunity to teach and learn with Kenyon students. I also enjoy working with my department and look forward to spending more time with my colleagues.”

“I am deeply grateful for Sheryl’s extraordinary service to Kenyon,” Provost Dianna Shandy wrote in an email. “Her institutional knowledge, thoughtful counsel, and generosity have been invaluable during my first year, and her leadership has made a lasting difference across the College.”

“Following a well-earned sabbatical, Sheryl plans to return to the chemistry department. We will have opportunities later this year to celebrate her contributions,” she wrote.

Hemkin prepares to retire as the other associate provost, Travis Landry, has been placed on ongoing administrative leave following a sexual assault accusation over social media. On Oct. 8, the College announced that it had engaged an independent investigator to conduct an investigation. 

In an Oct. 30 interview, President Julie Kornfeld said the associate provost duties are “being divided among [Shandy] and [Hemkin] … and Wendy Singer, who was an associate provost, is kind of stepping in and doing some discrete tasks for them as needed, and so they’re managing the workload in that way.”

In the Tuesday Thread announcement, a new weekly communication sent from the Office of the Provost to faculty, Shandy noted that “While [Hemkin’s] role will change, she will remain an important and deeply valued member of our academic community.”

“Her successor has yet to be selected,” Shandy wrote. Her Tuesday Thread message noted that  “the goal is to have an associate provost named on a timeline that aligns with planning the 2027-2028 course schedule.” 

Editors-in-Chief Madeline Lawler ’27 and Mercer Thomas ’27 contributed to reporting.