Philosophers in Administrative Positions
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
- 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
- Frédéric Bouchard, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Université de Montréal
- Samantha Brennan, Dean of Arts, University of Guelph
- 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
- John DeGioia, President, Georgetown University
- 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
- Saul Fisher, Associate Provost, Mercy University
- Jennifer Frey, Dean of the Honors College, University of Tulsa
- Tamar Gendler, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Yale University
- Brie Gertler, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, University of Virginia
- 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
- Sean Kelly, Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, Harvard University (beginning July 1st)
- Tim Kenyon, Acting Provost, Brock University
- John I. Jenkins, President, University of Notre Dame
- 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
- Dean Moyar, Vice Dean for the Humanities, Johns Hopkins 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
- Alfred B. Santos, Dean, School of Arts and Sciences, Holy Angel University
- Debra Satz, Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University
- Andrew Schroeder, Associate Dean of the Faculty for Research, Claremont McKenna College
- Brian J. Shanley, President, St. John’s University
- Lisa Shapiro, Dean of Arts, McGill University
- Eric Smaw, Special Assistant to the Provost for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Rollins College
- Scott Tanona, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Kansas 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.)
Margaret Watkins is dean of Arts and Sciences at Providence College. https://philosophy.providence.edu/faculty-members/margaret-watkins/
Sam Levey is associate dean of Arts and Sciences at Dartmouth College. https://philosophy.dartmouth.edu/people/samuel-levey
Christa Acampora, Dean of Arts and Sciences, University of Virginia. https://as.virginia.edu/office-dean
Agustin Rayo, Dean of Arts and Humanities, MIT. https://shass.mit.edu/about/Dean-Rayo
Brie Gertler, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, University of Virginia. Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. https://provost.virginia.edu/staff/brie-gertler
Tamar Gendler, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Yale
Brian J. Shanley President of St. John’s University
https://www.stjohns.edu/who-we-are/leadership-and-administration/office-president/rev-brian-j-shanley-op
Austin Rayo is a dean at mit: https://shass.mit.edu/about/Dean-Rayo
Peter Graham is Associate Dean of the University of California Education Abroad Program (University of California Riverside)
Previously, he was the associate dean of Student Academic Affairs for CHASS at UCR and then as associate dean for Arts and Humanities at UCR.
The Canadian list:
Alice MacLachlan, Vice Provost and Dean of Grad Studies, York
Tim Kenyon, Acting Provost, Brock
Samantha Brennan, Dean of Arts, Guelph
Lisa Shapiro, Dean of Arts, McGill
Shannon Dea, Dean of Arts, Regina
Frédéric Bouchard, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Université de Montréal.
and of course, Cheryl Misak was Provost at Toronto for several years…
Incomplete without Leo Groarke, President of Trent U these past five years! And now this Associate Dean Norlock has good buzz. 😉
Sorry I missed you! And Daniel Weinstock. Also Andrew Bailey is Associate Dean Research and Grad Studies at Guelph. Then there’s Tracy Isaacs, Special Advisor to the Provost on Gender-Based and Sexual Violence, Western University.
Another Canadian to add is David DeVidi, Associate Vice President Academic, University of Waterloo
Thanks, Sam. Though I’m currently seconded as Interim Provost and VP Academic, my regular gig these last six years is VP Research.
Tim Crane, Pro-Rector, Central European University, Vienna. https://philosophy.ceu.edu/people/tim-crane
Simon Wigley, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Bilkent University, Ankara.
Sean Kelly is about to become Dean of Arts and Humanities at Harvard: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/4/17/sean-kelly-arts-humanities-dean/
Scott Tanona is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Kansas State University.
https://artsci.k-state.edu/about/dean-office/dean-office.html
John Etchemendy was the provost for Stanford for 17 years, through 2017. By all accounts, as far as I can tell, he had done a great job and was super-influential:
https://news.stanford.edu/2017/01/24/provost-john-etchemendy-leaves-remarkable-legacy/
Lynn C. Pasquerella, President, American Association of Colleges and Universities
Saul Fisher is Associate Provost of Mercy University in New York.
Rufus Black, a philosophical theologian, is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tasmania.
Lanier Anderson is Senior Associate Dean for the Humanities and Arts at Stanford. https://philosophy.stanford.edu/people/r-lanier-anderson
Dean Moyar, Vice Dean for the Humanities, Johns Hopkins
Frédéric Worms is director of the École normale supérieure.
Tiziana Lippiello, a sinologist who works on classical Chinese philosophy, is rector of the Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia.
Andrea Woody is Dean of the Social Sciences at the University of Washington.
Maria Cimitile is Provost and Senior VP for Academic Affairs at Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan.
Eric Smaw is Special Assistant to the Provost at Rollins College:
https://www.rollins.edu/college-of-liberal-arts/news/smaw-selected-as-an-acs-mellon-academic-leadership-fellow/
A correction Justin: Sean Kelly is not the Dean of Arts & Sciences but the Dean of Arts and Humanities at Harvard.
Thanks!
James Sage is Associate Provost at Southern Utah University
https://www.suu.edu/provost/people.html
Andy Cullison and Danielle Poe!
Ann Cudd is the President of Portland State.
https://www.mcgill.ca/law/profs/weinstock-daniel
Andrew Schroeder is associate dean of the faculty for research at Claremont McKenna College. https://www.cmc.edu/academic/faculty/profile/andrew-schroeder
Jonathan Cohen is associate dean of academic personnel at UCSD School of Arts and Humanities
William Bechtel is senior associate dean of academic personnel at UCSD School of Arts and Humanities
https://artsandhumanities.ucsd.edu/about/deans-office.html
Prof. Alfredo B. Santos, Ph.D
Dean, School of Arts and Sciences
Holy Angel University
Angeles City, Philippines
Justin, is it also worth doing a ‘past appointment’ list, at least for people at the Provost/President level?
Sacha Golob, Vice-Dean, Arts & Humanities, King’s College London.
Karen Detleftson is “Vice provost for education” at Penn:
https://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/people/karen-detlefsen
Leonard Kahn is the Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Loyola University New Orleans.
Carl Still is President of St. Thomas More College in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: https://stmcollege.ca/contacts/carl-still.php
Michael Milde, Dean of Arts and Humanities at the University of Western Ontario
Alan Tomhave Assistant Dean, Youngstown State University
Fred D’Agostino was President of the Academic Board and, prior to that, Executive Dean of Arts at The University of Queensland. He was a member of the University Senate (Board of Trustees analogue).
Tong Shijun, Chancellor of NYU Shanghai.
Marjorie Hass is the president of the Council of Independent Colleges, having been a college president at two institutions.
Nate Bowditch is provost and VP at Plymouth State.
A list from Hong Kong:
Sungmoon KIM (Associate Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, City University of Hong Kong)
https://scholars.cityu.edu.hk/en/persons/sungmoon-kim(10a18ccf-ef32-4a53-a8dc-f4d7a8b0b684).html
Alan K.L. CHAN (Provost of Chinese University of Hong Kong) https://www.phil.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/web/academic/chan-k-l-alan/
Jiji ZHANG (Associate Dean of Faculty of Arts, Chinese University of Hong Kong)https://www.phil.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/web/academic/zhang-jiji/
Benedict S. B. CHAN (Associate Dean of Faculty of Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University)
https://rel.hkbu.edu.hk/people/chan-shing-bun-benedict
Andrea SAUCHELLI (Associate Dean of Faculty of Arts, Lingnan University)
https://www.ln.edu.hk/philoso/?page_id=799
Rachel STERKEN (Associate Dean of Faculty of Arts, University of Hong Kong)
https://hub.hku.hk/cris/rp/rp02715
Derk Pereboom, College of Arts and Sciences Senior Associate Dean of Arts and Humanities at Cornell University
Anton Ford is Deputy Dean, Humanities Division, University of Chicago.
David Owen is Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at Georgia Southern University.
Eric Boynton is president of Beloit College.
Sherri Irvin is Senior Associate Dean of the Graduate College of the University of Oklahoma.
https://www.ou.edu/gradcollege/about/contacts/sherri-irvin
Alex Neill has or had some sort of admin role in Southampton. The website calls him “Vice-President (Education)” whatever that means as well as Professor of Philosophy. I seem to remember he was a Dean about ten years ago but don’t hold me to that!
James Mahon, Dean of Arts & Humanities, Lehman College
https://www.lehman.edu/academics/arts-humanities/philosophy/Faculty-Profiles/James-Mahon/
Paul Haught is Associate Provost for Graduate Academic Affairs and Professional Education at University of Dayton
Marie-Eve Morin is Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Arts, at the University of Alberta, but we’d like her back, please . . .
Ben Eggleston is Senior Associate Dean, Humanities & Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Kansas!
Dr Anne Abaho is the dean school of social sciences at nkumba university uganda
John Corvino, Dean of the Honors College at Wayne State University.
https://clasprofiles.wayne.edu/profile/ae9123
Megan Mustain, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX
Jill Hernandez is Dean of the Honors College at Texas Tech.
Stuart Brock is Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic at the University of Otago
This thread opened with a remark about “the importance of philosophers in high-level administrative roles”, so perhaps it is not too far off topic now to mention that philosopher John Lamola is both (a) Associate Professor at the University of Johannesburg, and (b) CEO of South Africa’s national airline.
(a) https://iis.uj.ac.za/team-member/?smid=475
(b) https://www.flysaa.com/about-us/leading-carrier/about-saa/saa-leadership
Annette Bryson is now serving as Assistant Dean at John Cabot University.
I’m in a midlevel position (Director, School of Arts and Humanities at Gallaudet University) and seeing these is really helpful – thanks for starting this discussion! One thing I am wondering is how other axes of representation show up here for philosophers who are admins – gender, race/ethnicity, disability, etc.
Deborah Tollefsen is, in addition to her faculty appointment, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate School at the University of Memphis.
https://www.memphis.edu/philosophy/people/bios/deborah-tollefsen.php
Jeffrey Brand (formerly Brand-Ballard) is Associate Provost for Undergraduate Affairs and Special Programs at the George Washington University, Washington, DC
Ben Eggleston is Senior Associate Dean, Humanities & Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Kansas.
Lon Olson, PhD UTexas, Assistant Vice Provost for Program Accreditation and Assessment, Texas State University
Jonathan Sanford, president of the University of Dallas: https://udallas.edu/about-ud/leadership/presidents-office/index.php
Douglas Henry, Dean of the Honors College at Baylor University: https://honors.baylor.edu/person/douglas-henry-phd