After eight years of serving as the dean of Boston University’s School of Social Work, Gail Steketee will be retiring from her position by the end of this year, the university announced Tuesday.
Steketee, who has spent 30 years working at BU, said she was reluctant when she accepted the deanship in 2008.
“I had no intention of becoming an academic dean because I liked the research very much,” Steketee said. “I also liked teaching. I liked the whole experience of being a professor here at the university.”
Betty Ruth, an SSW professor, wrote in an email that she enjoyed working with Steketee throughout her deanship because of Steketee’s encouragement.
“She has always been broadly supportive of faculty efforts, and has promoted excellence in teaching, service, leadership and research, helping the school to strengthen its productivity and improve its stature,” Ruth wrote. “She herself epitomizes the ideal of the ‘dean scholar.’”
Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said Steketee’s retirement is a part of what occurs naturally with faculty and administrators at BU.
“I guess these are life cycles. We find that people are tired, they move on, they have different ways that they want to go with their lives,” he said. “We’ll miss [Steketee] but we understand, too, that there have got to be some transitions.”
Steketee said one of the most interesting parts of her deanship was meeting with the School of Social Work Student Organization at least once per semester to hear about their concerns.
“It’s in the nature of how we get into these positions,” she said. “We want to be in academia, we want to be a part of the teaching process, we like the students, we like our colleagues. It’s all fun and interesting and challenging.”
As a dean, Steketee attended meetings for a number of associations including the National Association of Deans and Directors of Schools of Social Work. She said she will miss connecting with a group of colleagues and asking them questions when challenging issues arise.
“I think it’ll be quite a transition actually,” Steketee said. “I am accustomed to hearing those conversations and being aware of that, so that will be a loss for sure.”
After her retirement, Steketee will remain involved in social work. She said she will dearly miss her colleagues, but she looks forward to having more time to explore Boston and the Northeast with her husband in retirement.
SSW students said they have appreciated Steketee’s support for student efforts during her deanship.
Eunice Kwon, a second-year graduate student, said her access to the dean has been helpful.
“This past year, [Steketee has] been very involved in some of the conversations with students about changes we want to see in the school,” she said. “So I think her openness and willingness to talk to students will be missed.”
Another second-year graduate student, Nalim Choi, said she was impressed with Steketee’s support for student activism when Steketee allowed SSW students to make a banner to hold at Black Lives Matter protests.
“She gave us budget for it out of her own department, which was pretty cool,” Choi said. “I thought that really showed initiative on the dean’s part.”
Eliza Campbell, also a second-year graduate student, said Steketee made time for SSW students despite her demanding daily tasks.
“She made the effort to come to a talk on the Wednesday after the election, even though she has a very busy schedule, and participated,” Campbell said. “It was very encouraging.”
