Bob Loftis Appointed the Pardee School Associate Dean of Studies
Prof. Robert Loftis has been appointed the Associate Dean of Studies at the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies with responsibility for all student affairs and services, including both the graduate and undergraduate programs. With the creation of this new position, the earlier separate positions of the Directors of Graduate and of Undergraduate Studies are being discontinued and merged into this office.
Asked to comment on his appointment, Prof. Loftis said, “I am honored to be the new Associate Dean for Studies and I look forward to working with our students and my colleagues as we continue to make Pardee one of the world’s leading schools of global affairs.”
In announcing the appointment, Dean Adil Najam of the Pardee School said, “Bob Loftis has been a popular teacher (winner of the 2019 Gitner Family Prize for Faculty Excellence), an effective higher education leader, a compassionate advocate for students, and a wonderful colleague for all of us here at the BU Pardee School.” He added that Prof. Loftis’ “leadership has been pivotal and transformative in enhancing and expanding the graduate office – including the introduction of the Spring Student Career Trip to Washington D.C. which he regularly leads, instituting the new student ‘Advance’ and enhanced orientation programs for graduate students, revamping and expanding the Pardee School admissions and financial aid processes, instituting and implementing the Student Travel Grants program – and in working with other colleagues in restructuring and upgrading the new student affairs structure at the Pardee School.”
Prof. Loftis is an award-winning educator, a proven leader in international affairs, a seasoned diplomat, and has been for the last many years our Director of Graduate Studies, and since this Fall also the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Before joining the faculty of the then department of International Relations at Boston University, he had served in the U.S. Foreign Service, including as Ambassador to Lesotho, Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, and as Senior Advisor for Security Negotiations and Agreements. He has also been associated with the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) and taught at the National Defense University.