Retiring Provost McFadden: Colby’s ‘Special Sauce’ is What Makes it Great

That sense of community and collaboration creates exponential impact, allowing the College and its academic program to thrive and grow. Since becoming provost in 2017, McFadden has overseen the hiring of nearly 100 faculty members, or roughly 40 percent of the current roster, leaving an impact on Colby that President David A. Greene described as generational.

McFadden will retire with the close of the academic year. Denise Bruesewitz, a distinguished scientist-scholar and campus leader, will succeed McFadden as Colby’s next provost. She has been shadowing McFadden this semester, learning at the helm—both observing and absorbing.

“I am eager to continue and expand the good work that Margaret has accomplished, and that means making sure the faculty feel supported to build academic programs they are passionate about, build collaborations around campus, and support our labs and institutes and all the work they are doing,” Bruesewitz said.

As she completed her final semester and prepared to step aside after 29 years at Colby, McFadden was thinking mostly about the people she has worked with during that time, including members of the staff and faculty she has hired and helped mentor, as well as the endless parade of students she has taught and counseled.

“I actually feel really good, but it’s a little bittersweet. I have started to get in touch with how much I love this place and how much I am going to miss people. But it’s the right moment. I feel we have built something really good and other people will come along behind us and build on those efforts. I feel good about what we have accomplished.”

Many of those accomplishments are tangible and lasting. They include several new departments, majors, minors, and concentrations in such fields as artificial intelligence, astrophysics, computational biology, data science, environmental humanities, Jewish studies, literature and the environment, and statistics.

She helped plan, launch, and program the Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the Buck Lab for Climate and Environment, the Linde Packman Lab for Biosciences Innovation, the Halloran Lab for Entrepreneurship, the Lyons Arts Lab, and the just-announced Public Policy Lab.

With her leadership, Colby established the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Environmental Humanities Summer Institute, the Jennifer Jahrling Forese Writer-in-Residence, the Pulver Science Scholars Program, the McVey Data Science Initiative, the Colby Arts Office, and other programs. She also led the programming study that drove the design for the Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts and oversaw the creation of a new childcare center.

It is her work on behalf of the betterment of the faculty that pleases her the most.

“What I am happiest about are all the things we have done to support the culture of teaching and support faculty, whether as teachers or as scholars or as people who are doing great work in the world,” she said. “I feel like we have made a real difference.”

McFadden has consistently and effectively advocated for more resources for faculty, including higher salaries, increased start-up and research funds for faculty, and the creation of the Haynesville Project with its $100,000 two-year unrestricted grant for all newly tenured faculty. Teaching loads have been reduced under her watch, allowing faculty more time for research, which increasingly involves students.

“When I look at the faculty we have hired and the faculty we have tenured, it’s just such an extraordinary group of people and a wonderful group of people. There is a part of me that wants to brush my hands together and say, ‘My work here is done.’ This place is set up for success in terms of the academic program, because these dedicated, talented, and creative faculty are here and they are committed to the place and to liberal arts teaching.”

At times, it has felt like a whirlwind. There has been so much change, it’s hard to keep up. But from her perspective, the payoff is evident at every turn. She described Colby as a “much bigger, more complicated, and more vibrant place” than when she began as a member of the faculty in 1996. She credits her part of Colby’s recent success to “an amazing team of people who work with me. Part of my job is to enable other people’s work, and I feel I have been able to do a lot of that. I am so proud of what we have accomplished together, and I do not feel like it is mine.”

In announcing McFadden’s retirement, Greene put the credit squarely on her shoulders.

“Margaret has defined the role of provost at Colby, doing so with absolute integrity and strength of character and an unshakeable expectation that the College act fairly and equitably,” he said in a statement. “Her open heart and mind and infectious sense of humor brought laughter and camaraderie to the toughest days.”

Jane Powers ’86, chair of the Board of Trustees, said McFadden has her own brand of “special sauce” with ingredients that include a generous dose of interpersonal skills and a large dollop of thoughtfulness. “For every conversation and every interaction, she shows up with authenticity,” Powers said.

McFadden’s legacy will be twofold. One is the expansion of the faculty, particularly tenured faculty. The other is her kindness, Powers said. “She has accomplished an extraordinary amount without being a bull in a china shop. At her absolute core is that elegance, grace, and heart with which she has led.”

We can expect more laughter from McFadden in retirement. Her research specialty is American popular culture with interests in comedy, gender and sexuality, and media. Prior to becoming provost, she was about halfway through a book about Gilda Radner, the actress and comedian best known for her roles on the TV show Saturday Night Live.

She looks forward to finishing the project without the obligation of writing a scholarly book. Intead, she wants to “write a different kind of book that would maybe have a broader audience. Every time I talk to someone over a certain age and say I am working on a book about Gilda Radner, almost to a person they say some version of, ‘Oh, I loved her.’ A lot of people really did appreciate her.”

Soon after she leaves Colby, she plans to camp and hike at Baxter State Park, a place she loves but hasn’t been able to visit for years. She will travel here and there, and she plans to stay in Maine and return to Colby for concerts, lectures, art exhibitions, and whatever else is on the calendar.

She looks forward to enjoying the fruits of her labors—and the labors of others she has supported for so many years.

“When I recruit new faculty, they are so drawn to what is happening here because of the resources that we have and the vision that we have collectively developed. The future of this place is incredibly bright,” McFadden said.

“This place is on a rocket to stardom.”