Graduate School

Deans & Staff

Breadcrumb

Deans & Staff

Meet the Deans and the staff of the Graduate School.

Please email graduate_school@brown.edu with questions or to set up an in person or virtual meeting.

Address

Brown University Graduate School
47 George Street, Box 1867
Providence, RI 02912 (401) 863-2600

Email

Graduate admission team: graduate_admissions@brown.edu
Graduate School deans: graduate_dean@brown.edu
Conference and travel funds: graduate-travel@brown.edu
General inquiries: graduate_school@brown.edu

Who to Ask:

Leadership

Thomas A. Lewis

Dean of the Graduate School, Professor of Religious Studies

thomas_lewis@brown.edu

Office Hours: Mondays from 3-4 pm
Dean Lewis will not have office hours on December 23 or 30, or January 20.
Email Dean-of-GraduateSchool@brown.edu to request an in person or Zoom meeting.
Sarah Delaney

Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Professor of Chemistry

sarah_delaney@brown.edu

Meetings by appointment.

Areas of Expertise Liaison to programs on academic affairs, Doctoral/MFA program reviews, Academic affairs policy, Academic issues/concerns, Academic code cases for doctoral students
Vanessa Ryan

Senior Associate Dean of Student Development

Vanessa_Ryan@brown.edu

Office hours appointments, Tuesdays 1-3 pm, and appointments at other times are available through online self-scheduling.

Online Self-Scheduling

Areas of Expertise Academic advising, special programs and Distinctive Opportunities, including Open Graduate Education, Brown Executive Scholars Training, Brown-Wheaton Faculty Fellows, Deans’ Faculty Fellows, Proctorships, and Interdisciplinary Opportunities Fellows programs, liaison to the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, the undergraduate College, Center for Career Exploration, and the Division of Campus Life
Alycia Mosley Austin

Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion

alycia_mosley_austin@brown.edu

Appointments available through online self-scheduling.

Online Self-Scheduling

Areas of Expertise Develops initiatives to foster positive and supportive climate and community, Liaison to programs and offices to support positive student experience and retention, Liaison to programs on recruitment planning and outreach
Maria Suarez

Associate Dean of Student Support, Deputy Title IX Coordinator

Maria_Suarez@brown.edu

Meetings times available through online self-scheduling, and by appointment.

Online Self-Scheduling

Areas of Expertise Support practices and policies, Support for individual students, Medical and personal leave, Coordinates with Office of Institutional Diversity, Liaison to the Office of Campus Life and Student Services, including Student and Employee Accessibility Services, as well as to Counseling and Psychological Services
Ethan Bernstein

Executive Dean of Administration and Finance

Ethan_Bernstein@brown.edu

Areas of Expertise Graduate student funding and policies, admissions, data management and reporting, events and communications, financial and administrative management, day-to-day operations of the Graduate School, Liaison to offices across campus including University Human Resources, Office of Financial Strategy and Planning, Controllers Office, Bursar's Office, Student Health Services, Office of University Communications, and Office of Information Technology
William Wittels

Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs

william_wittels@brown.edu

Areas of Expertise Graduate Digital CV, Program review support, Updating of academic policies, Fellowship application support

Staff

Michael Anzalone

Assistant Director of Admissions and PhD Funding

michael_anzalone@brown.edu

Areas of Expertise Graduate admissions management, Graduate School systems and operations support, Graduate student funding coordination
Barbara Bennett

Academic Affairs Manager

Barbara_Bennett@brown.edu

Areas of Expertise Liaison to Registrar and Student Financial Services, Processing of Master's theses and PhD dissertations, Processing of leaves, withdrawals, and exchanges
Susan Ely

Communications and Special Events Manager

susan_ely@brown.edu

Areas of Expertise Graduate School website manager, Social media , Graduate School communications and special events
Maria Faria

Admission Coordinator

Admission_Graduate@brown.edu

Areas of Expertise Program liaison for the PhD programs in Africana Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Archaeology/Ancient World, Chemistry, Classics, Comparative Literature, Computer Science, Earth, Envir. & Planetary Sciences, Economics, Egyptology and Assyriology, Engineering, English, French and Francophone Studies, German Studies, Hispanic Studies, Italian Studies, Literary Arts, Mathematics, Modern Culture & Media, Music: Multimedia Composition, Music: Musicology & Ethnomusicology, Philosophy, Physics, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies, Religious Studies, Slavic Studies
Maria Glanvill

Executive Assistant to the Dean and Graduate School Office Manager

maria_glanvill@brown.edu

Areas of Expertise Executive administrator for the dean, Programming support, Special events planning and logistics
Maija Hallsmith

Assistant Director of Academic Diversity

Maija_Hallsmith@brown.edu

Areas of Expertise Diversity, equity and inclusion programming and outreach, Graduate program climate and community support
Julie Kindschy

Manager, Admission & Reporting

Julie_Kindschy@brown.edu

Areas of Expertise Managing admission operations
Byrd McDaniel

Assistant Dean of Student Development

byrd_mcdaniel@brown.edu

Online Self-Scheduling

Areas of Expertise Open Graduate Education, Global Mobility Research Fellowships, Deans’ Faculty Fellows Program, Interdisciplinary Opportunities Program, Brown-Wheaton Faculty Fellowships, Research Matters, Effective Performance Workshops, other Distinctive Opportunities
Steven Radilla

Diversity Initiatives Program Coordinator

steven_radilla@brown.edu

Areas of Expertise Diversity recruitment, DEI programming support, PREP program coordination
Michelle Rose

Financial Coordinator

Admission_Graduate@brown.edu

Areas of Expertise Processing and review of graduate student appointments, External funding incentive plan and stipend top-ups, Conference and Research Travel
Mary Heather Smith

Manager of Data Analytics

Mary_Heather_Smith@brown.edu

Areas of Expertise Design, manage, and produce data reports and visualizations, Assist academic departments and University partners with the use of graduate student enrollment data and reports, Serve as University-wide expert on graduate student data definitions and integrity, Prepare data submissions for external agencies and organizations, such as AAUDE and NSF
Lisa Tillson

Admission Coordinator

Admission_Graduate@brown.edu

Areas of Expertise Program liaison for Applied Math, Biology and Medicine-all programs, Center for Computational Molecular Biology-CCMB, Cognitive/Linguistics/Psychology, History, History of Art, Neuroscience, Political Science, Public Health-Doctoral, Sociology, Theatre and Performance Studies-all programs

Partners

Chris Gilbody

Director, Graduate School Financial Aid

christopher_gilbody@brown.edu

Office of Financial Aid | Page-Robinson Hall 2nd Floor

Research Interests Financial aid,, financial education,, debt management,, loan borrowing
Lorie Hoyle

Sr. Financial Analyst

lorie_hoyle@brown.edu

Budget, Planning, and Analysis | South Street Landing

Areas of Expertise Graduate School Financial Planning and Budget, Operations management - stewardship, grand funds, travel funds, and payroll, Graduate program financial analysis and support
Gail Lee

Human Resources Coordinator

Gail_Lee@brown.edu

University Human Resources | South Street Landing

Areas of Expertise Graduate student payroll administration
Zhichun Lin

Assistant Director, Career Counseling (Graduate Students)

zhichun_lin@brown.edu

Center for Career Exploration | 167 Angell Street

Areas of Expertise Graduate/doctoral students career development, Career development for international graduate students
Sonja Paulson

Assistant Director, International Student Services (PhD and MFA Students)

Office of International Student & Scholar Services (OISSS) | Page-Robinson Hall Suite 420

Research Interests F-1/J-1 students, Visiting Research Fellows-VRF, Questions about on and off-campus employment authorization, Liaison to departmental administrators
Wendy Zhu

Labor Relations Data Specialist

yong_zhu@brown.edu

University Human Resources | South Street Landing

Areas of Expertise Graduate student union-related union membership policies and processes, Graduate student union bargaining unit list management, Graduate student union dues processes