Deep Springs Will Welcome Tom Cassidy as Its Next President

Tom Cassidy, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Professor of Mathematics at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, has been named the next President of Deep Springs College. Tom will begin his tenure on July 1, 2026. He will be joined by his wife, Ruth Cassidy, who is looking forward to being back in the Valley.

“The whole Board is very excited to welcome Tom to Deep Springs,” said Dan Fulwiler, Chair of the Deep Springs College Board of Trustees. “It is clear that his intellect, administrative skills, and deep caring for the institution will put Deep Springs on a great footing going forward.”

At Bucknell, Tom taught in the Mathematics Department for over 20 years and earned a Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence in 2004. He spent time as a Fulbright scholar in the West Indies, as a guest researcher at the Max Planck Institute, and as a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley. Tom co-led the most recent Middle States reaccreditation team at Bucknell, which earned the 2024 Maxwell Award, given to cross-divisional groups collaborating on matters of institutional importance. Tom also recently published an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences using demographic models to predict optimal age-specific vaccination priorities for Covid.

Tom’s prior connection with Deep Springs was as a visiting faculty member at the College for the Spring 2020 semester in the midst of the Covid pandemic. Tom was chosen from an incredibly well-qualified slate of over 40 applicants, many of whom, like Tom, had prior connections with Deep Springs.

My time as a visiting faculty member at Deep Springs changed my understanding of what a college can achieve. I continue to be inspired by the idealism of the students, the dedication of the staff, and the devotion of the larger Deep Springs family. I am thrilled to be joining this community! —Tom Cassidy, Incoming President

President Andy Zink commented, “I could not be more thrilled to welcome Tom Cassidy as the next president of Deep Springs. He is the perfect choice to steward and build on all that we have accomplished during my time as president. I will be working closely with Tom in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition.”

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Deep Springs College Opens Chair Searches

Deep Springs College is doing searches for its Herbert Reich Chair of Natural Science and Julian Steward Chair of Social Sciences to begin in July of 2026. The academic pillar of Deep Springs is deliberately dynamic. Its three long-term chairs have three-year terms renewable up to a maximum of six years. There are many openings for semester-long and other short-term faculty every academic year. For more details on all of the College’s academic openings, visit the College’s Academic Job Openings page. [Article updated, Sept. 20, 2025]

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Vice President Ryan Derby-Talbot to Depart Deep Springs College for the Middle East

Deep Springs’ Vice President: Dean and Chief Financial Officer, Ryan Derby-Talbot, has been selected to be the founding president of a new experiential college to launch in the United Arab Emirates in 2025. He will depart Deep Springs at the end of July, 2024.
 
“It feels like the kind of thing that I am uniquely positioned to support — I have experience with new institutions, with Deep Springs’ model, and even have basic proficiency in Arabic. I feel I can help get this new college underway with a good shot for success, as an expression of my life of service,” said Derby-Talbot. 
 
President Andy Zink expresses his “deep gratitude for Ryan’s extraordinary leadership and tireless commitment to the College, staffulty, and especially our students. We will miss his strategic mind, good humor, and inspired work as the student & faculty dean. And in his role as Vice President & CFO Ryan has brought a new level of organization and clarity to the College’s finances that will have a positive impact for years to come.”
 
Deep Springs will soon begin a search for a new College Dean. For the 2024-25 academic year, former President David Neidorf has agreed to return to the College to serve as interim Dean.
 
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Deep Springs College Announces Andy Zink as Next President

After a thorough search, the Board of Trustees of Deep Springs (TDS) is pleased to announce that Dr. Andrew “Andy” Zink will be the next President. Andy will assume leadership of the College on July 1, 2023. Read the full announcement from TDS here. Additional information about Andy can be found on his website.

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Sue Darlington, President, Announces Retirement

Marina Hsieh, Chair, Trustees of Deep Springs, and Dan Fulwiler, Deep Springs 85, Chair, Presidential Search Committee, share Sue Darlington’s decision to retire at the end of this academic year. Their letter to the extended community follows.

October 23, 2022

Dear Friends of Deep Springs,

Last week Sue Darlington told the Trustees of Deep Springs that she would be retiring as the President of the College at the end of her current contract, next summer. Sue has had an extraordinary career in academia, having served for more than 30 years as Professor of Anthropology and Asian Studies at Hampshire College, where she also served in various leadership roles.

Sue came to Deep Springs at a unique time, and accomplished much during her tenure. She was the first female president of the College, and shepherded the school through crucial years in the transition to a fully coeducational institution. She has overseen the recruitment of several accomplished faculty members, deepening the school’s ambitious academic program. Her devotion to creating an amazing staff has been equally thoughtful, and the College will have an amazing “staffulty” during this time of transition.

Sue led the College safely through the Covid-19 pandemic, ensuring that the entire community remained safe and healthy while continuing the academic program even through difficult circumstances.

She has overseen the construction of the new Boarding House and much needed new faculty housing. These facilities will position the college well for its second century.

We wish Sue all the best in her “retirement.” Though she may be stepping away from the full-time working world, we know that she will continue to devote her considerable skills to the larger academic community and to the betterment of humanity.

Sincerely,

Marina Hsieh, Chair, Trustees of Deep Springs
Dan Fulwiler, DS 85, Chair, Presidential Search Committee

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Michael Stryker, DS ’64, Publishes “Chance and Choice”

Michael Stryker, DS ’64, Trustee 2001-2009, has been published by The Society for Neuroscience in Volume 11 of the History of Neuroscience in Autobiography. The chapter, “Chance and Choice: Recollections of a Life in Science,” may be downloaded freely from https://www.sfn.org/-/media/SfN/Documents/NEW-SfN/About/History-of-Neuroscience/20200731_HON_Stryker.pdf.

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Trustees Approve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement

On Nov. 7th, 2020, the Trustees of Deep Springs unanimously approved a statement titled, “The Pursuit of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Deep Springs College.” A committee of the Trustees drafted the statement and submitted it for community comment in September. The statement adopted at the Nov. 7th board meeting reflects this commentary. The statement will inform many processes at Deep Springs College, including staff and faculty hiring, and student admissions. Read the full statement here.

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COVID-19 Updates

November 1:  Heading into winter, Deep Springs has made the creative decision to swap term 4 and term 6. This means students can go home over the winter break, make the break longer, and then we have more people on campus in the summer, when returning students would typically choose a term off. 

This decision addresses the concern that although Deep Springs is remote, and therefore relatively safe from the virus, having students coming and going over the holidays and then living in close quarters with a shared heating system qualifies as a risk. 

FAQ on Winter Scheduling Change

June 18:  Deep Springs is open and prepared for the arrival of new students on July 3.  This decision required the agreement of students, county health authorities, our board, the staff who live and work here; and the establishment of rigid and thoroughgoing policies and procedures.

Welcome Letter to DS20

DSC Group 3 Covid Chart

May 18:  Like many communities of learning around the globe, we are discovering silver linings from inconvenient distance.  Unlike many, we are nimble enough to continue educational life for the nine students in the Valley, where “social distancing” is geographic, historic, and deliberate– and our mission specific enough to carry on lives of leadership and service in communities beyond.  
     Unable to invite our new short-term faculty to the Valley, we have suspended our normal program for Term 6.  Instead we will offer field ecology for those here, and one online course and directed reading groups for those on zoom. 
     We are consulting with medical professionals and the Inyo County Health Department about how we can begin bringing the rest of the students back to the Valley.  We anticipate a two-week quarantine for any incoming community members in keeping with recommendations of CDC and CA government. 
     We hope for a regular July arrival of the new class.  If July 1 proves too early, then we will postpone on a month-by-month basis until we can resume.
     Again, many thanks to everyone in the extended Deep Springs family for your ongoing communication and support.  We thank you also for your continued financial support, which takes on new significance in an uncertain economy.

Letter to Parents of DS20 Incoming Class May 7

Letter to Students Postponing Term 6 April 16

March 26:  Board unanimously approved the updated recommendation (linked below) whereby Deep Springs: continues Term Five with nine on-campus students and twenty-one off-campus students, learning and self-governing via zoom; resolves to maintain self-isolation of the College and social distancing through April 30; discusses and anticipates possible permutations for Term Six and Summer Term (in accordance with California government and CDC recommendations) to maximize safety, ensure best student experience, and aim to welcome the Class of DS20 on schedule.

Board Adopted Recommendation March 26

March 13: Deep Springs to postpone start of Term Five by two weeks, suspend normal operations, prepare online instruction for those outside the Valley currently on break, and to keep the community running safely for all students and staffulty currently in the Valley.

Announcement of Community Discussion March 11

Board Adopted Recommendation March 13

 

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The Valley Beyond

This is an open invitation for members of the Deep Springs extended community to propose: internships, work (paid or volunteer), teaching assistantships, or research opportunities to current and recent students of Deep Springs College. 

This year’s extended winter break (mid-December through mid-February) prompted us to assemble a handful of such opportunities for current students.  Moving forward we would like to keep a database of options for Deep Springs students during terms off or upon graduation.

Thank you for thinking of us; please also understand there is no guarantee that any student will be available for a given opportunity when it arises.

To submit a proposal, please complete the form here. 

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Air Quality Monitor Installed

News just in from our Director of Operations, Padraic MacLeish: If you are interested in getting up to the (two) minute information about air quality around Deep Springs, you can now find information from a campus sensor that was installed today by our local Air Pollution Control District as part of their regional monitoring system.
 
You can find the Deep Springs sensor on the Purple Air map here. A word of caution from the Great Basin Air Pollution Control District (APCD) — these are relatively inexpensive sensors and can be thrown off by small local events, but the long-term trends and large changes should reflect conditions with some accuracy.
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Deep Springs College
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Dyer, NV 89010

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