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The University of Utah is looking for a new Dean of the College of Science

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Position Overview

The University of Utah invites internal applications for the position of Dean of the College of Science. The College includes the School of Biological Sciences and the Departments of Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics & Astronomy, Atmospheric Sciences, Geology & Geophysics, Metallurgical Engineering, and Mining Engineering. The latter four comprise the College of Mines and Earth Sciences (CMES), and the Dean of The College of Science also formally serves as the Dean of CMES. In addition to its academic departments and schools, the College also houses the Henry Eyring Center for Cell and Genomic Science and the Center for Science and Math Education.

The College of Science is home to 200 tenure-line faculty, 75 career line faculty, over 3,000 primary majors, and has roughly $65M in annual research expenditures. The College has been on a strong growth trajectory with its entering class size increasing 30% over the last three years alone. The new 275,000-square-foot Crocker Science Complex, home to the new L.S. Skaggs Applied Science Building, was completed in July 2025, and the renovated Life Science Building is projected to open in January 2026.

The Dean will provide leadership for all aspects of the College of Science, establishing and implementing a strategic vision that will enhance undergraduate and graduate education, further strengthen the College’s research enterprise, and enhance the College’s national and international reputation. The successful candidate will be a strategic leader and transparent communicator with a record of promoting excellence in education and research; effectively championing the needs of faculty and staff; building strong partnerships internally and externally, including through philanthropic engagement; enhancing operational excellence while reducing administrative burden; and supporting a welcoming environment to promote the success and enhance the morale of all students, faculty, and staff.

The Dean will serve a five-year renewable term and will dually report to the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Senior Dean of the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS).  The anticipated start date is May 1, 2026.

LEADERSHIP PROFILE

Visionary Leadership

The Dean will provide vision to advance the College’s continued growth and success, elevating its national and international reputation as a world-class academic center for research and education in mathematics and the natural, earth, and extractive sciences. They will also exhibit excellent skills for collaboration with University, State and Industry stakeholders.

Enhancing Research and Innovation

The Dean will develop and implement a vision for continued research growth, including strengthening the support infrastructure to expand the College’s research enterprise. As the landscape for federal funding continues to shift, the Dean must update models for scientific research and translation to maintain an essential focus on growing research expenditures and impact.

Growing Enrollment and Fostering Student Success

The Dean will promote academic excellence, continue to grow enrollment, and foster undergraduate and graduate student success by prioritizing initiatives that support student engagement, retention, and timely graduation. Building on the success of the Science Research Initiative (SRI), the Dean will promote innovative teaching methods, proactive interventions, and expanded experiential learning opportunities to enrich the educational experience and post-graduation outcomes for undergraduate students.

Financial and Administrative Acumen

The Dean must be experienced with managing large financial operations efficiently and transparently. The Dean must expand new revenue streams to support investment in strategic priorities and demonstrate a commitment to transparency in making resource allocations. In the context of the LAS framework, the Dean will design and support operational models that provide high-quality and consistent administrative support services to the College of Science.

Increasing Philanthropic Support

The Dean will be a champion for philanthropy and will work with LAS’s Advancement team to further enhance a robust fundraising program in the College, including establishing fundraising priorities; articulating a compelling case for support; cultivating alumni, friends, and partners; and achieving philanthropic goals. The Dean will have an enthusiasm for fundraising and possess the personal and social skills that enable the building of successful donor relationships and drive both overall and transformative giving.

Supporting Faculty and Staff

The Dean will recruit world-class researchers, educators, and outstanding staff to expand the excellence and impact of the College of Science. The Dean will foster a community of exceptional talent and diverse perspectives, as well as a supportive atmosphere that encourages the retention of these professionals, recognizing their contributions and providing opportunities for mentoring and professional development.

Professional Qualifications and Personal Qualities

Minimum Qualifications:

A tenured position in the College of Science; a distinguished record of research and teaching; and experience in progressively larger and more complex administrative roles.

Desired Experiences and Attributes

  • Vision: A forward-looking leader with a demonstrated ability to articulate a compelling vision for the rapidly changing disruptive technological landscape (e.g., AI and ML in education and research).
  • Research Excellence: A world-class researcher with a proven track record of contributions to their research community as demonstrated by publications, trainees, securing external funding and service to their discipline.
  • Research Leadership: Fluency with current and evolving trends in the federal funding landscape. Track record of supporting faculty research, identifying research opportunities, and implementing strategies that result in college-wide increases in research funding, impact and productivity. Demonstrated success developing infrastructure to support research growth.
  • Academic Excellence: An accomplished academic with demonstrated success in fostering an environment of academic rigor and excellence and a demonstrated record of promoting quality in science, mathematics, and engineering education, mentoring, and curriculum development.
  • Administrative and Financial Acumen: A strong record of institutional leadership and collaboration with demonstrated skills in strategic planning and implementation, fiscal planning, organizational budget management and data-informed decision making in a complex organization.
  • Student Success: Student-focused administrator with a demonstrated ability to implement strategies that enhance student success to achieve gains in undergraduate and graduate student retention and graduation rates.
  • Communication Skills: Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to engage with faculty, students, staff, alumni, and internal and external stakeholders and partners.
  • Entrepreneurship and Innovation: An entrepreneurial leader with an understanding of commercialization and technology transfer to support and facilitate bringing innovations, inventions, and research discoveries developed in the College from an academic setting to the market and society.
  • Fundraising: A passionate advocate and a compelling storyteller with demonstrated success supporting a comprehensive advancement environment conducive to outstanding philanthropic outcomes to secure support for scholarships, research, faculty awards, infrastructure, and other priorities.
  • Partnerships and Community Engagement: An inclusive relationship builder with experience creating partnerships with business and industry, granting authorities, foundations, regulatory bodies, national laboratories, research consortia, and other public and private organizations to secure resources, promote collaboration, foster experiential learning and career opportunities, and facilitate technology transfer.
  • Shared Governance: A collaborative leader with an understanding of shared governance and the ability to be effective in a decision-making model that involves faculty, staff, students, and administrators in shaping the policies, procedures, and direction of the College of Science.
  • Accreditation: An academic administrator that has familiarity with the ABET accreditation process.

Procedure for Candidacy

To apply for the Dean of Science position, candidates are requested to submit: 1) a curriculum vitae; 2) a up to three-page letter of interest that addresses the leadership opportunities and desired experiences and attributes in this profile; and 3) contact information for four references (to be contacted later with candidate’s permission).

Applications should be submitted through this link by January 31, 2026.

Timeline

  • Application Deadline: January 31, 2026
  • Finalist Interviews: Late February, Early March
  • Anticipated Start Date: May 1, 2026

Search Committee

Charles Musgrave (Co-Chair)
Dean, John and Marcia Price College of Engineering
Matthew Sigman (Co-Chair)
Associate Dean, College of Science; Distinguished Professor, Chemistry
Fred Adler
Director and Professor, School of Biological Sciences; Professor, Mathematics
M. Denise Dearing
Distinguished Professor, School of Biological Sciences
Dalyana Guerra
Assistant Professor (Lecturer), Mathematics
Jessica Haskins
Assistant Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Travis McMullin
Director, Campus Advancement
Tino Nyawelo
Professor (Lecturer), Physics & Astronomy
W. Pratt Rogers
Professor and Chair, Mining Engineering
D. Kip Solomon
Distinguished Professor, Geology & Geophysics