He’ll begin a second five-year term as a member of the Arts, Sciences & Engineering leadership team in 2022.
Jeffrey Runner has been reappointed to a second five-year term as dean of the College in Arts, Sciences & Engineering at the University of Rochester.
“Dean Runner has done a superb job in overseeing the College, and I am very pleased that he has agreed to continue for another five-year term,” says Donald Hall, the Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull dean of the faculty of Arts, Sciences & Engineering. “Jeff is a strong advocate for students, and a caring administrator of the many programs and offices that report to him. He is a key member of the AS&E administrative leadership team, and I look forward to continuing my work with him.”
Runner took over as dean in 2017, succeeding Richard Feldman. The College dean leads the units, programs, and initiatives that serve both the academic and non-academic needs of the undergraduates in Arts, Sciences & Engineering. The dean is responsible for 16 offices and centers that focus on areas such as academics, research, undergraduate support and advising, student life, and diversity.
Runner’s five-year reappointment begins July 1, 2022.
Runner started his career at the University in 1994 as a visiting assistant professor of linguistics. He became department chair in 2014 and a professor of linguistics in 2015, receiving the Goergen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2006. He served for years as a first-year and sophomore pre-major advisor and as a faculty development and diversity officer for Arts, Sciences & Engineering. Since 2005, he has held a secondary role as associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences.
During Runner’s first term as dean, the College developed a vision statement that focuses on inclusivity and fostering an environment of belonging in which all students become innovative and adaptive lifelong learners. He also helped initiate a Basic Needs Hub and Food Pantry for students in need, hired the University’s first LGBTQ coordinator, and created a dedicated Study Zone to support students facing academic challenges, in addition to expanding the number of online courses offered.
Runner says the focus of his next term will be “creating an environment in which all students can succeed” following an unprecedented period in which the COVID-19 pandemic forced the University to find innovative ways of teaching and learning.
“There is no going back,” he says. “What we’ve learned about ourselves and our world over the past year and a half cannot be unlearned. We must continue to change where we need to change, build and rebuild where the structures aren’t working.”
Runner grew up in Rhode Island and attended the University of Rochester from 1981 to 1983. After taking three years off, he earned his bachelor’s degree in linguistics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1989, and his doctorate in linguistics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1995.
