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Richman to retire at the end of the year

Jack M. Richman, the Johnson-Howard-Adair Distinguished Professor, will retire at the end of December.

Richman, who has been with UNC for 35 years, announced his retirement to faculty, staff and students last month. A graduate of Florida State University and the State University of New York at Albany, Richman arrived in Chapel Hill in 1983 as a clinical assistant professor. He went on to serve in a variety of capacities at the School of Social Work, including as director of admissions and assistant dean.

He was named dean of the School in 2002 and remained in that leadership role until 2016. For the last year, he has been serving as associate dean for global engagement and international programs, helping to guide the School’s global research and program efforts. Richman said he expects to remain a visible presence at the School until the summer of 2018 as he completes work on a research project involving the UNC Satir Program.

In his retirement announcement, Richman praised the School’s outstanding faculty and staff and marveled at the “amazing changes,” he has observed and experienced over the course of his career here.

“I am so proud to have been part of (the School’s) growth and development and pleased to have been part of the lives of the faculty, staff and students,” Richman said. “As Dean John Turner told me in 1983 when he hired me, ‘We are currently a mediocre School of Social Work in a great University, and our goal is to make this a great School of Social Work in a great University,’ and we absolutely did that!”

Dean Gary L. Bowen, who has worked with Richman for nearly three decades, noted his colleague’s many contributions to the School and thanked him for his “dedicated service and exemplary performance.”

“(Jack) is going to be greatly missed,” Bowen said.