(Moving this to the top again; first published on April 18th, 2024). A few months ago during a discussion here about the demand for philosophers, the importance of philosophers in high-level administrative roles came up.

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Here’s the relevant bit:

One thing we should do is encourage universities and colleges to better promote the distinctive value of philosophy and the study of the liberal arts more broadly. But how do we get universities to take up the mission of sending that message? What you need are people in positions of power who care about sending that message. That’s us… And so it would serve philosophy well if more philosophers took up administrative positions at the colleges and universities. We don’t need philosopher kings, but philosopher deans and associate deans, philosopher provosts, and philosopher university presidents would be helpful.

Perhaps it would be good to have a running list of philosophers in these roles. For one thing, it’s a bit of profession-wide recognition for taking up a potentially valuable position. It can be beneficial for philosopher-administrators to be able to easily find out about each other. The list could also be useful as a resource for philosophers considering moving into administrative positions. And it could help us figure out whether having philosophers in administrative positions is actually good for philosophy at those institutions (and perhaps more broadly).

So let’s gather this information. What we’re looking for are philosophers in college- or university-wide administrative roles. If you know of any, add their name, title, and institution in the comments, with a link to their university page. I’ll start with a few names to get a list going. Periodically, I’ll move names provided in the comments to the list in the post itself.

Thanks.

Philosophers Currently in College- or University-Wide Administrative Positions

• Anne Abaho, Dean, School of Social Sciences, Nkumba University
• Christa Acampora, Dean of Arts and Sciences, University of Virginia
• Lanier Anderson, Senior Associate Dean for the Humanities and Arts, Stanford University
• William Bechtel, Senior Associate Dean of Academic Personnel, School of Arts and Humanities, UC San Diego
• Rufus Black, Vice Chancellor, University of Tasmania
• Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, Director, School of Arts and Humanities, Gallaudet University
• Frédéric Bouchard, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Université de Montréal
• Nathaniel Bowditch, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Plymouth State University
• Eric Boynton, President, Beloit College
• Jeffrey Brand, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Affairs and Special Programs, George Washington University
• Samantha Brennan, Dean of Arts, University of Guelph
• Stuart Brock, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), University of Otago
• Annette Bryson, Assistant Dean of Student Academics, John Cabot University
• Benedict S. B. Chan, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning, Hong Kong Baptist University
• Jonathan Cohen, Associate Dean of Academic Personnel, School of Arts and Humanities, UC San Diego
• Grant Cornwell, President, Rollins College
• Ann Cudd, President, Portland State University
• Tim Crane, Pro-Rector, Central European University, Vienna
• Shannon Dea, Dean of Arts, University of Regina
• Karen Detlefsen, Vice Provost for Education, University of Pennsylvania
• Susan Dodds, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Research and Industry Engagement)
• William C. Dudley, President, Washing & Lee University
• Ben Eggleston, Senior Associate Dean, Humanities & Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Kansas
• Saul Fisher, Associate Provost, Mercy University
• Anton Ford, Deputy Dean, Humanities Division, University of Chicago
• Jennifer Frey, Dean of the Honors College, University of Tulsa
• Tamar Gendler, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Yale University
• Brie Gertler, Interim Executive Vice President and Provost, University of Virginia
• Sacha Golob, Vice-Dean, Arts & Humanities, King’s College London
• Jeffrey Green, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Arizona Christian University
• Peter Graham, Associate Dean of the UC Education Abroad Program, UC Riverside
• Andrew Hamilton, Associate Vice Provost for Student Success, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, UNC Greensboro
• Paul Haught, Associate Provost for Graduate Academic Affairs and Professional Education, University of Dayton
• Douglas Henry, Dean of the Honors College, Baylor University
• Jill Hernandez, Dean of the Honors College, Texas Tech University
• Sean Kelly, Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, Harvard University
• Tim Kenyon, Acting Provost, Brock University
• John I. Jenkins, President, University of Notre Dame
• Sungmoon Kim, Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, City University of Hong Kong
• Matthew Kostelecky, Vice-President (Academics) and Dean, St Joseph’s College, University of Alberta
• Sam Levey, associate dean of Arts and Sciences, Dartmouth College
• Tiziana Lippiello, Rector, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia
• Alice MacLachlan, Vice Provost and Dean of Grad Studies, York University
• James Mahon, Dean of Arts & Humanities, Lehman College
• Marie-Eve Morin, Vice Dean (Academic), Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta
• Dean Moyar, Vice Dean for the Humanities, Johns Hopkins University
• Megan Mustain, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Trinity University
• Lon Olson, Assistant Vice Provost for Program Accreditation and Assessment, Texas State University
• David Owen, Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, Georgia Southern University
• Derk Pereboom, College of Arts and Sciences Senior Associate Dean of Arts and Humanities at Cornell University
• Danielle Poe, Dean of College of Arts and Sciences, University of Dayton
• Agustin Rayo, Dean of Arts and Humanities, MIT
• James Sage, Associate Provost, Southern Utah University
• Jonathan Sanford, president of the University of Dallas
• Alfredo B. Santos, Dean, School of Arts and Sciences, Holy Angel University
• Debra Satz, Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University
• Andrea Sauchelli, Associate Dean of Faculty of Arts, Lingnan University
• Andrew Schroeder, Associate Dean of the Faculty for Research, Claremont McKenna College
• Marcus Schultz-Bergin, Core Curriculum Director, Cleveland State University
• Brian J. Shanley, President, St. John’s University
• Lisa Shapiro, Dean of Arts, McGill University
• Tong Shijun, Chancellor of NYU Shanghai.
• Eric Smaw, Special Assistant to the Provost for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Rollins College
• Rachel Sterken, Associate Dean of Faculty of Arts, University of Hong Kong
• Carl Still, President of St. Thomas More College in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
• Scott Tanona, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Kansas State University
• Deborah Tollefsen, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate School, University of Memphis
• Alan Tomhave, Associate Dean, Youngstown State University
• Matthias Vorwerk, Provost, University of Dallas
• Margaret Watkins, Dean of Arts and Sciences, Providence College
• Daniel Weinstock, Associate Dean for Research, McGill University
• Simon Wigley, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Bilkent University
• Andrea Woody, Dean of Social Sciences, University of Washington
• Frédéric Worms, Director, École Normale Supérieure

(The list will be updated periodically. If you notice an outdated or mistaken entry, please let us know.)