Christopher S. Celenza, dean of Georgetown College at Georgetown University and professor of history and classics, has been named James B. Knapp Dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.
Celenza’s appointment, effective January 4, 2021, is a homecoming: He joined the Krieger School faculty in 2005 as a professor in what was then the Department of German and Romance Languages and Literatures (now the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures). He went on to hold several leadership roles at Hopkins, ultimately serving as vice provost for faculty affairs until he departed for Georgetown in 2017.
“I am thrilled to announce the appointment of Christopher Celenza as the Krieger School’s next dean,” President Ronald Daniels wrote in a message to the university community, adding that Celenza “earned a reputation as a strong and collaborative leader” at Georgetown.
To identify a successor for Beverly Wendland, who departed in July to serve as provost of Washington University in St. Louis, a search committee was tasked with identifying a leader who could build on the strengths of the Krieger School while developing emerging opportunities into the next decade.
While at Georgetown, Celenza advanced many strategic initiatives, including prioritizing efforts to foster diversity, inclusion, and equity while significantly refining faculty hiring practices. He also developed a new undergraduate research program that provided students with opportunities to explore career paths.
“I couldn’t be more excited about returning to Johns Hopkins, both because of Hopkins’ deep-rooted respect for the arts and sciences and, more, for the work to be done, when it comes to fostering diversity and inclusion,” says Celenza.
In addition to his role as a vice provost for faculty affairs at Hopkins, Celenza held the Charles Homer Haskins Professorship. He also served as vice dean for humanitiesand social sciences. From 2010 to 2014, he was director of the American Academy in Rome.
Celenza holds doctoral degrees in history from Duke University and in classics and neo-Latin literature from the University of Hamburg.
He has received numerous awards and grants, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies. He is the author or editor of 11 books and more than 40 scholarly articles in the fields of Italian Renaissance history, post-classical Latin literature and philosophy, and the history of classical scholarship.
