“We found ourselves faced with a very very uncommon situation in which a very good tutor, Coral, had been offered a life-promising job, a job of the kind she just could not turn down,” Kirkland House Master Tom C. Conley said.

“To be able to work on issues of environment and sustainable development has been a long standing interest of mine, so the opportunity to join the IDB was very attractive and something that I could not refuse,” Fernandez-Illescas wrote.

She added that she had not chosen to leave at this time.

“My departure at mid-year is in no way a reflection of my experience as a senior tutor and lecturer but a consequence of the transition into a professional world that does not abide by the academic calendar,” she wrote.

Conley said he knew Fernandez-Illescas would have preferred to begin her new position in September, but he had sensed in the fall that she might be exploring other options.

“It wasn’t officially expected but I had the sense that her eyes were looking on the horizon,” Conley said. “I said to myself just in case something happens, we should have some alternative plans.”

When he heard the news, he and co-master Verena Conley were prepared to offer the position to Walsh.

“It took us about 30 minutes to go to get our plans in place,” he said.

Walsh met separately with Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education John T. O’Keefe, Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross and Dingman in December after Fernandez-Illescas informed them she would be leaving.

Conley offered high praise for Walsh.

“He’s been absolutely stunning—I repeat, stunning—as an assistant senior tutor,” Conley said. “He’s been involved in every phase of the House.”

Conley cited Walsh’s experience in the House—he’s been a tutor for three years—as a source of continuity. The House has seen four senior tutors since the Conleys became House masters in 2000.

Dingman said Kirkland’s run of abbreviated senior tutor terms is a “fluke,” and that most tutors stay for the extent of their three-year appointments, with many accepting offers of two-year extensions.

But he said the college respects tutors’ desire to explore new opportunities.

“We’re loathe to keep people from pursuing their dreams,” he said.