Prof. Michael Socolow (AMST), the director of Brandeis' journalism program announced his resignation from the University faculty Monday.Socolow is leaving Brandeis to teach at the University of Maine, where he is accepting a tenure-track position. He said that the tenured position, though an important feature in his new post, was not the basis for his decision to leave Brandeis.

"This decision had much more to do with family reasons than professional reasons," Socolow wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. "I still had time left on my contract and I could have applied for the tenure-line search next year."

Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that he is sorry to hear about Socolow's resignation.

"We are in the midst of planning to make sure that the journalism program continues to thrive during a transition next year," the dean wrote. "We will be searching next year for a longer-term replacement for the director of the program."

Socolow said that he has faith in the success of the University's search process for a new program chair. He does not envision the program experiencing any major obstacles in the immediate future because of his decision.

"I am fully confident the American studies department will continue its recent record of hiring success," Socolow told the Justice. "The transition will be eased by the fact that I was not scheduled to be on campus this fall."

Socolow initially planned on taking a leave of absence in the fall 2005 semester to write and return in January 2006.

According to Socolow, the journalism program will expand next year to offer two new courses under the American studies department. "The number of courses next year should not be lowered," he said.

Before joining Brandeis' faculty, Socolow was an assistant editor at CNN. At that network's Los Angeles bureau in 1994, Socolow directed coverage of the now-famous freeway chase of retired football star O.J. Simpson, who was accused of murdering his ex-wife and another man.

In his career in academia, Socolow's scholarship has focused on the political, social and cultural development of early American radio networks. He has published opinion columns in The Boston Globe and the Chicago Tribune.