May 5, 2026

Dear all,

I am writing to recognize that Marianne Begemann, Dean of Strategic Planning and Academic Resources (DOSPAR), will be retiring at the end of this academic year. Dean Begemann has been affiliated with the college for most of her life—first as a student of the Class of 1979 and then as a professor of Chemistry from 1985 to 2007. She then served as Associate Dean of the Faculty until she was appointed by President Hill in 2012 to be the DOSPAR, a position she has held for nearly 15 years.

In her time as DOSPAR, Dean Begemann has overseen multiple transformative projects at the college, projects she has shepherded with thoughtfulness and creativity. She led the academic team who designed the Integrated Science Center completed in 2016 (including the renovation of Sanders Physics and New England Building and construction of the Winton Evans Bridge for Laboratory Sciences); she was pivotal in the development of The Vassar Institute for Liberal Arts, the design of the Dede Thompson Bartlett Center for Admission and Career Education, the strengthening of Athletics and Physical Education and the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, the establishment and support for the Office of Sustainability and the Environmental Cooperative, and most recently, the envisioning and planning of the Center for Multidisciplinary Study. These are but a sample of the many ways in which Dean Begemann’s work has advanced the college.

More than all the projects, Dean Begemann has led the college with a strong sense of values, always reinforcing a humane and mindful approach to Vassar’s place in the world. She has prioritized the sense of community for which Vassar is so known. I speak for many when I say we are deeply grateful to have worked with such an inspiring colleague as Dean Begemann, and we have all been made better by her presence.

As those of you who know Dean Begemann will recognize, she has requested to not have a retirement party and prefers instead an uneventful transition to life after working at Vassar. As hard as it is, I will honor her wishes and bid farewell for all of us in this way.

Dean Begemann, Marianne, on behalf of all of us in the Vassar community, thank you so very much.

Elizabeth H. Bradley, President
Vassar College
Poughkeepsie, NY 12604
@linkedin.com/in/ehbradley