Division of the Humanities Dean Appointment

From: President Paul Alivisatos and Provost Katherine Baicker
Subject: Division of the Humanities Dean Appointment
Date: May 18, 2023
 
We are pleased to announce that Deborah L. Nelson, the Helen B. and Frank L. Sulzberger Professor in the Department of English and the College, has been appointed dean of the University of Chicago Division of the Humanities, effective July 1.
 
The humanities are central to the University’s commitment to rigorous inquiry, interdisciplinary exploration, and transformative education. Debbie’s vision for the humanities, leadership experience, and scholarly eminence position her to drive meaningful advances both within the division and across the University. Highly regarded for her collaborative leadership style, she is currently serving her second term as chair of the Department of English Language and Literature. In her previous role as deputy provost for graduate education, Debbie partnered with academic units across campus to identify and implement improvements to the University’s graduate student experience. Among her many accomplishments was the creation of UChicagoGRAD, which provides a wide array of services, support, and resources to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Debbie also led efforts to increase the engagement of graduate student alumni, resulting in more than 200 alumni now leading and participating in UChicagoGRAD events with current graduate students.
 
A distinguished scholar, Debbie’s work focuses on late 20th-century US culture and politics. Her research interests include American literature and plays, gender and sexuality studies, photography, and Cold War history. Her book, Tough Enough: Arbus, Arendt, Didion, McCarthy, Sontag, Weil, won the Modern Language Association’s James Russell Lowell Prize for Best Book of 2017 and the Gordon J. Laing Award in 2019 for the most distinguished contribution to the University of Chicago Press by a faculty member. Debbie is also the author of Pursuing Privacy in Cold War America and has had articles published in PMLA, American Literary History, Contemporary Literature, Feminist Studies, as well as in several edited collections. She has been a member of the University faculty since 1996 and attained her PhD in English from City University of New York, her MA in English from Columbia University, and her BA in English from Yale University.
 
Debbie will succeed Anne Walters Robertson, the Claire Dux Swift Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Music and the College, who has served as dean of the division since 2016 and will be the faculty director at the University’s Center in Paris for the 2023–2024 academic year.
 
Debbie’s appointment was informed by the recommendations of a faculty advisory committee. We are grateful to the committee members for their diligent efforts and valuable contributions to the process.
 
We look forward to working with Debbie as she leads the division into its next chapter and amplifies the impact of the humanities across campus and around the world. Please join us in congratulating Debbie on this appointment and in thanking Anne for her dedicated service as dean.