I am delighted to announce that, following an internal search, Monica Jackson has been appointed as American University’s next Deputy Provost and Dean of Faculty. A dedicated teacher, award-winning scholar, and experienced administrator, Dean Jackson has served in an interim capacity throughout the past academic year. She officially assumes her permanent role today, July 1, 2021.

Despite the unique challenges of transitioning to a university-wide leadership position during a global pandemic, Dean Jackson’s lasting contributions to our community over the last 12 months build on her dedicated career of service and teaching. Among many other initiatives, she helped to advance new guidelines for the tenure, promotion, and reappointment process that incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion considerations. She also collaborated with the newly established Office of Equity and Title IX, created an expanded role for the Associate Dean of Faculty, and worked with the Faculty Senate to initiate key changes to the Faculty Manual. Dean Jackson has directed and will continue to lead our efforts related to strategic imperative four in the Changemakers for a Changing World strategic plan, which is centered on learning for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.

Since joining AU in 2005, Dean Jackson has embodied the scholar-teacher ideal. A decade ago, she developed the first online and hybrid courses offered by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. She also introduced AU’s first Research Experience for Undergraduates, the Summer Program in Research and Learning (SPIRAL). Dean Jackson maintains an active research agenda focused on spatial statistics, statistical computation, and disease surveillance. Since being named Interim Deputy Provost and Dean of Faculty, she has published the first edition of a statistics textbook and several manuscripts, received three federal grants, and gave four research presentations. 

Throughout her career, Dean Jackson has demonstrated a strong commitment to inclusive excellence. She became the first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for the College of Arts and Sciences and has mentored underrepresented students, faculty, and staff across campus. She serves as a principal investigator for AU’s NSF-funded ADVANCE grant, an innovative and potentially model study of gender and racial equity among STEM faculty. This summer, she co-organized a workshop called “Mathematics and Racial Justice” hosted by the Mathematical Sciences and Research Institute. For the past 10 years, she has also co-organized the Conference for African American Researchers in the Mathematical Sciences, which is hosted by Princeton University this year.

Before transitioning to the Interim Deputy Provost and Dean of Faculty role, Dean Jackson served as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Prior to joining AU, she spent two years at Emory University as a postdoctoral researcher. Dean Jackson received her BS and MS from Clark Atlanta University and her PhD in applied mathematics and scientific computation from the University of Maryland.

Many thanks to the search committee members, led by John Heywood, for their hard work and dedication. I also greatly appreciated the input received from staff, faculty, and administrators during the stakeholder interview process.

Please join me in congratulating Monica on her new position!