Adams House faculty deans Judith S. Palfrey â67 and John G. âSeanâ Palfrey â67 will retire from their positions at the end of the academic year, the pair announced in a Wednesday email to Adams House affiliates. When they arrived at Adams House in 1999, Judith and John Palfrey were the only faculty deans unaffiliated with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, working as professors at Harvard Medical School and Boston University of Medicine, respectively. Today, they are the longest-serving pair of current faculty deans. The pair said in an interview that they are grateful for the two decades they spent serving in their roles at Adams House.