When Harry R. Lewis '68, dean of Harvard College, promoted David B. Fithian to assistant dean of the College, he didn't just give the Adams' House Allston Burr Senior Tutor a raise--he created an entirely new post in the College infrastructure.

Fithian joins the ranks of two other assistant deans of the College, bringing the total number of College administrators with "dean" in their title (excluding members of the Freshman Dean's Office) up to a plentiful eight.

Lewis has carved out a job description for Fithian that includes "responsibility for training and orienting new members of the College administration" and "for writing and editing major College publications."

The assistant dean position was advertised "as all Harvard jobs are posted," Lewis says, online and in the Harvard Gazette.

Lewis says he could not divulge whether he received any other applications for the assistant dean position or whether he interviewed any other candidates for the slot.

"The posting said 'strong internal candidate,' which means that we had identified a particular individual as the person to beat," Lewis writes. "The other information you want is confidential personnel information."

Associate Dean of Harvard College David P. Illingworth '71 says that Fithian was perfect for the post.

"Dean Lewis didn't want to pass him up," Illingworth says.