On Jan. 1, 2001, Drew Gilpin Faust, a world renowned historian, made history herself.

Faust became the first permanent dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study on Monday and will be the only woman to sit on the University's dean's council, made up of the heads of each of Harvard's 10 schools.

Faust, formerly Annenberg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, was named last spring as Radcliffe's next leader and replaces Acting Dean Mary Maples Dunn.

Though still teaching at Penn last spring and into this fall, Faust has been slowly assuming the helm of Radcliffe, involved in the discussions and decisions that will shape the newly formed institute.

Soon after her appointment was announced, Faust said she saw her--and Radcliffe's--role at Harvard as an "agitator" for women's interests at the University.

But yesterday, Faust said, "I see my responsibilities at the dean's council will be to learn, look and to ask questions that might cause [the other deans] to see things in a different light."

In her oval shaped office yesterday, the new dean painted a picture of Radcliffe as an academic community devoted to intellectual pursuits across a great many disciplines, with a special focus on the study of women, gender, and society, a field that Faust feels "has not been the strongest" at Harvard.

While the nature of the institute will largely be hers to shape, Faust must also decide how involved Radcliffe wants to be with undergraduates.

Faust said that Radcliffe will continue to help fund the Ann Radcliffe Trust, an initiative under the auspices of Harvard College that aims to be the umbrella organization for student groups with an interest in women's issues.

Radcliffe raises funds for the Trust by soliciting its alumnae and contributed $50,000 this year towards the Trust's funding for student groups.

Technically, Radcliffe is no longer responsible for female undergraduates; the Harvard College Dean's Office did not permit the Institute to have a table at the undergraduate curricular fair earlier this fall.

But Faust said she has spoken with leaders of the Radcliffe Union of Students and the Women's Leadership Project and hopes to encourage undergraduate participation in Institute events.

Faust said she did not foresee any immediate changes to the arrangement between Radcliffe and Harvard that lets undergraduates use Agassiz Theatre, though under the merger agreement Radcliffe can appropriate the space in 2004.

She said she also feels that some type of student committee to act as a liaison between Radcliffe and undergraduates would be "logical."

Faust mused yesterday about a possible writing workshop in which undergraduates could work with and attend lectures by Radcliffe fellows.

"I think it's very important to make as many intellectual resources available to undergraduates as possible," she said.

Immediately after its merger with Harvard in the spring of 1999, Radcliffe faced a PR problem with its alumnae, many of whom were confused about the details of the merger agreement.

Dunn embarked on a nationwide tour last year to explain Radcliffe's new role at Harvard.

"Many alumnae have been saddened by the fact that they no longer have a school," said President of the Radcliffe Association (RA) A'Lelia P. Bundles '74. "But that's a reality we can't change. If Dean Faust follows through on her plans to make the Institue a compelling, interesting and engaging place, I think she'll engender the affection of Radcliffe women."

Judith Stanton, executive director of the RA, said that Radcliffe has recently started to send speakers to Harvard Clubs across the country in an effort to include both male and female alumni in Radcliffe activities.

Stanton said Faust seems like a perfect fit for the emerging Institute.

"She's strong and smart and powerful, and I think she'll make a big difference."

Faust said that she will spend her first few months at Radcliffe working to implement the suggestions of a ad hoc committee of academic experts that has been examining Radcliffe in the past several months.

The committee has sought to develop a plan for combining the Institute's focus on women's studies with its commitment to studies in other academic fields. The committee of academics will make suggestions on how Radcliffe could revamp its administrative structure and will make a final report in early February.

Faust said that she believes her own experiences as a female academic will allow her to bring a unique perspective to Harvard's round table of deans.

"Part of my personal experience has been as a woman, coming into an intellectual world undergoing great changes," she said.

Faust has a professorial appointment in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; she lead the Women's Studies Department at Penn.

She is also a trustee of Bryn Mawr College, from which she graduated in 1968. She did her graduate work at Penn, receiving her Ph.D. in American Civilization in 1975.

Faust's specializes in the American Civil War. She is the author of Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War. She is currently working on a book about the war's death toll.

A native of Virginia's Shenendoah Valley, Faust has written several books about the Confederacy and Southern women.

--Staff writer Kathryn L. Rakoczy can be reached at rakoczy@fas.harvard.edu.