BU Names New Provost, a Renowned Scholar and Scientist from Duke
Colin Duckett has been named Boston University’s new provost and chief academic officer. Photo courtesy of Duckett
BU Names New Provost, a Renowned Scholar and Scientist from Duke
Colin Duckett, who assumes the role July 1, says he was drawn to BU by President Gilliam’s “ambitious vision”
Colin Duckett, an internationally renowned scholar, immunologist, and molecular biologist and a respected academic leader from Duke University, will be Boston University’s new provost and chief academic officer, BU announced Wednesday.
“Throughout his career, Colin has worked to address complex institutional challenges and advance academic priorities,” BU President Melissa Gilliam wrote in a letter to the University community announcing his hire. “These strengths will be especially valuable as Boston University strengthens collaboration across campuses and advances scholarship across the full breadth of the University—from the humanities and arts to the social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, and the professions.”
Duckett will replace Gloria Waters, a longtime BU senior leader who announced last fall that she would step down at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year. Her last day will be June 30, when she will return to BU’s faculty, and Duckett’s first day will be July 1. Like Waters, Duckett will serve as provost for both Boston University and the Medical Campus, which includes the BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, the School of Public Health, and the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine.
“During her tenure,” Gilliam wrote in thanking Waters, “[Gloria] has helped guide the University through an important period of transition while strengthening collaboration across schools and campuses.”
Duckett says that the collaborative nature at BU was precisely what attracted him to the role.
One of the things that drew me to BU was President Gilliam’s ambitious vision for the University.
“One of the things that drew me to BU was President Gilliam’s ambitious vision for the University,” he says. “BU is a place where disciplines, communities, and realities merge, and the most consequential problems don’t respect the boundaries universities draw around themselves. The excitement that vision has generated across the community is palpable—I feel it in every conversation I’ve had.”
Led $100 Million Interdisciplinary Effort at Duke
Duckett’s hiring comes at a time when BU is focused on the multitude of ways that convergent research is happening across both its Charles River Campus and Medical Campus and is working to strengthen its bond with Boston Medical Center, the University’s primary teaching hospital and Boston’s safety net hospital. With both of those efforts being key pillars of the University’s strategic framework, Gilliam noted that Duckett was the natural choice, after a comprehensive national search.
At Duke, Duckett is executive vice dean for basic and preclinical science, serving as the liaison between the dean’s office and the science community at large. He oversees biomedical graduate programs, the postdoctoral office, the animal care program, core facilities, and the Duke University School of Medicine’s research lab spaces.
Duckett’s work in cancer biology and cellular signaling has been widely cited thousands of times in prestigious journals, and in 2023 he was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. At Duke, one of the nation’s preeminent research universities, he is also senior advisor to the provost on medical school affairs. He has worked closely with faculty, department chairs, and deans to guide strategy, graduate education, faculty recruitment, and academic planning across multiple schools.
One of Duckett’s signature achievements at the Durham, N.C., institution was coleading the Duke Science and Technology initiative. A $100 million effort to expand interdisciplinary collaboration in areas such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence in education, and health innovation, the initiative connected Duke scholars across multiple fields to take on complex challenges.
Prior to joining Duke in 2018, Duckett was the chief scientific officer at the Baylor Scott & White Research Institute at Baylor College of Medicine in Dallas, Tex. And before that, he spent 15 years at the University of Michigan as a professor of pathology and internal medicine and director of the Cancer Biology program in the Comprehensive Cancer Center (now Rogel Cancer Center).
“Boundless Curiosity”
In her letter, Gilliam said that Duckett’s colleagues “consistently note his thoughtful approach to leadership, his boundless curiosity, kindness, and commitment to engaging with faculty and academic leaders, and his ability to guide complex conversations with clarity and respect.”
She added that he is committed deeply to mentorship and education, launched a graduate program in cancer biology, and has been a strong advocate for expanding undergraduate research opportunities.
“The warmth of the BU community struck me immediately—faculty, staff, students, administrators,” Duckett says. “And what excites me most is how much I have to learn. BU spans an extraordinary range of human inquiry at a truly global scale, and I’m looking forward to immersing myself in all of it.”
After growing up in London, earning his PhD in biochemistry from the University of London, and completing his postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago, Duckett says he appreciates how an urban campus is also a classroom. “BU has that same feel to it,” he says. “I’m so excited to explore Boston, learn about its culture and communities, and understand the relationship between the University and the city.”