Category: Leaders
Five Faculty Receive Edward Avedisian Professorships
Five faculty at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine have been named as the newest recipients of Edward Avedisian Professorships, which are funded out of the transformational $100 million gift from the late Edward Avedisian (CFA’59,’61, Hon.’22) and his wife Pamela (Hon.’23) in 2022 that also resulted in the renaming of the school. From the $100 million gift, $25 million was specifically designated to fund professorships. The ceremony to honor the second round of professorships was held on March 12.
Maria Elizabeth Grabe is inaugural Dalton Family Professor at COM
Working for South Africa’s state-controlled TV under apartheid, documentarian Maria Elizabeth Grabe faced unrelenting censorship. On January 1, Grabe joined the College of Communication as its inaugural Dalton Family Professor and second-ever director of Emerging Media Studies. “The [Dalton Family] Professorship,” says COM Dean Mariette DiChristina (COM’86), “aims to focus on the use of emerging communication platforms and research to engage communities around addressing societal challenges—building understanding while building bridges.”
Kenneth W. Freeman, President Ad Interim
2023–Present Kenneth W. Freeman, dean emeritus and professor of the practice at Questrom School of Business, and University vice president and associate provost, has been appointed as interim president starting August 1, 2023. In his 13 years at Boston University, Freeman has filled a number of roles: respected professor, transformative dean, valued mentor, forward-thinking academic innovator, and a skilled and rock-steady vice president during a period of crisis. As BU’s acting leader, Freeman will hold all the powers of the president’s office, and be entrusted to provide leadership to deans, faculty, students, and all key stakeholders, while continuing the initiatives already in process that are core to BU’s 2030 Strategic Plan.
New Dean of Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences
After a national search that yielded more than a dozen qualified finalists, Jack Dennerlein was named dean of Sargent College on July 26, 2023. His official tenure begins August 1, 2023. The former dean, Christopher A. Moore, announced his retirement in fall 2022.
Incoming Newbury Center Faculty Director Wants to Improve Higher Ed Access for First-Gen Students
Anthony Abraham Jack, a well-known higher-education researcher and author starts at Boston University in fall 2023. He will be an associate professor of higher education leadership in the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and faculty director of the Newbury Center—which serves and celebrates first-generation students on campus. Maria Dykema Erb will continue as the Newbury Center director. She and Jack will run the center jointly.
As University Librarian, Mark Newton Will Lead Effort to Reimagine BU’s Library Program
Mark Newton has been appointed to the position of University Librarian. As University Librarian, he will lead the BU libraries’ transition to 21st-century knowledge repositories. Newton succeeds K. Matthew Dames, the University Librarian from 2018 to 2021.
Leading Texas Scholar Is New Dean of the School of Social Work
Barbara Jones is the new dean of the School of Social Work. She was previously associate dean for health affairs at the University of Texas Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work and chair of the department of health social work at UT Austin’s Dell Medical School. She succeeds Jorge Delva, who will join the SSW faculty after a sabbatical.
Engineering Dean Named Interim University Provost
College of Engineering Dean Kenneth Lutchen has been named Boston University’s interim provost and chief academic officer after Jean Morrison stepped down. Lutchen, who is a professor of biomedical engineering, says he is “deeply honored” by the new assignment.
New Dean of Students Appointed
Jason Campbell-Foster will serve as Boston University’s next Dean of Students, assuming a role he’s held on an interim basis since July 2022. Campbell-Foster emerged as the top candidate after a competitive, yearlong national search. Campbell-Foster joined BU as senior associate dean of students in 2019—a role that quickly expanded with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which he oversaw the University’s student-centered response.
Robert A. Brown Reflects on 18 Years as BU President
“When I came to Boston University in 2005, I joined a university in turmoil caused by a failed presidential search that exposed weak leadership and broken governance. A university with a dedicated and talented faculty and staff, and an aspiring and engaged student body—but with little thought about, or unity around, the prospects for the future. From this beginning, we have developed a vision of Boston University as a wonderfully interconnected private research university committed to inclusive excellence, but grounded in a gritty pragmatism that faces head on what is needed to make this vision a reality,” says President Brown.
