About the Provost
Jean Morrison was named University Provost and Chief Academic Officer of Boston University in January 2011. She provides leadership for the University’s overall academic, budgetary, and planning processes and oversight of its academic programs, research, global programs, enrollment, student affairs, and library systems.
Provost Morrison is the University’s 2nd-ranking officer and oversees the academic deans of BU’s 17 schools and colleges and the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences. Since her appointment, she has overseen several key efforts designed to enhance BU’s academic quality and global competitiveness, including development of a University-wide process for academic program review; the launch of the BU Hub, a general education program for all undergraduates; the launch of a University-wide Arts Initiative; the establishment of new divisions in graduate education, digital learning and innovation, and diversity and inclusion; and development and implementation of BU’s latest 10-year strategic plan.
Boston University’s progress has been acknowledged in many ways under Provost Morrison’s tenure, including improved academic rankings. Most notably, in 2012, BU was admitted to the Association of American Universities, the group of premier public and private research universities in the United States and Canada.
A geologist by training, Provost Morrison is a professor in BU’s Department of Earth & Environment. Her research in earth sciences has focused on understanding the evolution of the earth’s crust over time, with particular emphasis on the physiochemical characteristics in earthquake fault systems, as well as the properties of the earth’s deep crust. She has served as an editor of the Journal of Metamorphic Geology and associate editor of both the American Mineralogist and the Geological Society of America Bulletin, where she is also a Fellow. Prior to her arrival at BU, she was a professor of earth science and Executive Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at the University of Southern California.
Provost Morrison received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1988; her MS from the University of Georgia in 1983; and her BA from Colgate University in 1980.