Chief Nutter aide returns to academia

Mayor Nutter's chief of staff, who announced last month that he would be leaving City Hall, is headed back into the academic world.

Clarence D. Armbrister will join Johns Hopkins University July 11 as senior vice president and chief of staff, working closely with university President Ronald J. Daniels.

"The opportunity to work for President Daniels at one of the finest institutions in the country is an opportunity that, when presented, you enthusiaastically accept," said Armbrister, who has worked with Nutter since he became mayor in 2008.

Armbrister previously worked as executive vice president of Temple University, where he oversaw student affairs, admissions and financial aid and other areas. In the 1990s, he served as city treasurer of Philadelphia and managing director of Philadelphia's public schools. His position at Johns Hopkins was announced Monday.

At a news conference two weeks ago, he said he had been thinking about leaving the Nutter administration for some time as he contemplated the next phase of his professional life.

While Nutter searches to fill the chief of staff position, Suzanne Biemiller, director of policy, planning, and coordination, will fill that role on an interim basis.