Beth B. Raffeld, the most recent person to hold the title of FAS dean for development, left Harvard in January just over a year after her appointment in October 2002.

“She just decided that it just wasn’t quite the right fit for her,” Rapier said of Raffeld.

“I think she had some other priorities to get on with,” Abell said.

Raffeld could not be reached for comment last night.

There was no FAS Dean for Development between 1998 and Raffeld’s 2002 arrival.

In the months since Raffeld’s departure, Rapier said that she and a number of other administrators had taken a relatively short time to sift through a small group of potential hires in order to select Abell.

But Abell did not immediately jump to leave what he called a “completely enjoyable retirement.”

“He turned us down twice,” Rapier said. “All of the senior administrators who met him just thought he was fantastic, and it was a matter of convincing him to come do this.”

Abell, who will move to Massachusetts from his current residence in Ohio, is the father of Kelly S. Abell ’02 and Scott P. Abell ’07.

—Staff writer Simon W. Vozick-Levinson can be reached at vozick@fas.harvard.edu.