COM gets dean ad interim
Tobe Berkovitz will take the lead
Tobe Berkovitz, an associate professor and associate dean at the College of Communication, has been named dean ad interim of the college. He will assume his responsibilities effective Monday, September 25. Boston University Provost David Campbell says that consultation with COM faculty in the wake of the resignation of COM Dean John Schulz made it quickly apparent that Berkovitz was the right person to assume the leadership role.
“President Brown and I are delighted that Tobe has responded positively to our request to assume this position,” Campbell says. “He has been involved in all aspects of the college in the past several years, and he was the resounding recommendation of the faculty.” Berkovitz, who is known for his enthusiasm for the classroom and his work as a political media consultant and a political commentator, says he is pleased to have been appointed dean ad interim and is eager to get started.
“One of the first things we need to do is demonstrate to the world the excellence of the College of Communication,” he says. “All of us here know that is it a superb academic program that educates our students in their chosen professions and also gives them a great liberal arts background, and we need to get that message out.”
The new dean ad interim says he also hopes to reinvigorate the collegiality of the COM faculty. “This is a college where we all work together and teach together,” he says. “I’m hoping that spirit of collegiality can be strengthened.”
Berkovitz, who started his career at Boston University in 1988, teaches a course in political campaigning, and with John Verret, an associate professor, oversees Adlab, the world’s largest student-run advertising agency. Berkovitz has a B.F.A. and a M.A. from the University of Connecticut and a Ph.D. from Wayne State University. Since 1974 he has worked as a political media consultant on presidential, senatorial, congressional, and gubernatorial election campaigns. He specializes in media strategy and time-buying and works as a producer of political commercials.
