Published: May 23, 2019

Senior Vice Provost for Academic Resource Management Ann Schmiesing has named E. Scott Adler dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for graduate affairs effective June 17.

“I am excited to welcome Scott to the Graduate School,” said Schmiesing, who was dean from January 2017 through December 2018. “Scott’s vision for the Graduate School and knowledge of graduate education will be instrumental to his role as dean and as a member of the provost’s leadership team.”

E. Scott Adler

New Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs E. Scott Adler

Adler’s vision for the future of the Graduate School focuses on opening the accessibility of CU Boulder’s graduate programs to a wider range of students, while also enabling graduate students to gain knowledge and skills that go beyond a single discipline or field of study.   

“I am excited for this opportunity to work with some of the finest graduate students anywhere,” said Adler. “I look forward to helping them reach their degree aspirations in disciplines as diverse as Art and Art History and Aerospace Engineering.  

“I intend to work closely with the United Government of Graduate Students, the provost’s office and other academic leaders on campus to continue to enhance the experience of graduate students and the quality of graduate education at CU Boulder,” he said. “One of my first orders of business will be working with the graduate task force to complete its final report this summer.”

Adler is a professor and chair of the Political Science Department and serves as director of the department’s American Politics Research Lab. He served as past director of the Center to Advance Research and Teaching in the Social Sciences, 2016–18, and as director of Graduate Studies in Political Science, 2013–16. He has been a CU faculty member since 1996. 

He received his doctoral and master’s degrees in political science from Columbia University, and his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Michigan.

Adler succeeds Leslie Reynolds, interim dean of the Graduate School, who will overlap with Adler until she returns to her position as senior associate dean of University Libraries on July 1.

“I want to thank Leslie for her terrific job leading the Graduate School and advocating for graduate education at CU Boulder,” Schmiesing said.

“I also want to thank professor Bud Coleman of Theatre & Dance, our other finalist for graduate dean, and all who applied for the post. We had strong candidates with long experience at CU Boulder, and this was a difficult decision,” Schmiesing said.