Dear Brown University Faculty and Staff,

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Tricia Rose, Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America (CSREA) and Chancellor’s Professor of Africana Studies, as Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives, effective July 1, 2016. In this part-time role, which was developed as part of the Pathways to Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, Professor Rose will work closely with Dean of the Faculty Kevin McLaughlin and others to develop and implement strategies designed to recruit, retain and support faculty from historically underrepresented groups (HUG) in the social sciences and humanities. She will continue in her leadership role with CSREA, and will report directly to the Dean of the Faculty.

Central to Brown’s commitment to cultivate a more diverse and inclusive academic community is identifying and attracting to Brown exceptional HUG faculty across the disciplines. The University’s strategic plan, Building on Distinction, commits to doubling the number of HUG faculty, and through the DIAP, the University has accelerated the timeline for achieving this goal from 10 to seven years, or by 2022. Progress will require the deliberate and concerted efforts of all academic departments, and will include exploring a range of approaches as we fill existing and newly created positions, including cluster hiring, as well as being more expansive in considering fields and subfields that would benefit the University.

As Associate Dean for Special Initiatives, Professor Rose will be an advisor to departments, department chairs and center directors as they review, implement and update their Departmental Diversity and Inclusion Action Plans (DDIAPs). Integral to this work will be informing and guiding efforts to attract and retain talented scholars to Brown, considering the range of available tools, such as the Provost’s Visiting Professors initiative, Target of Opportunity program, and the President’s Postdoctoral Fellows, among others.

An internationally respected scholar of post-civil rights era black U.S. culture, popular music, social issues, gender, and sexuality, Professor Rose joined the Brown community as Professor of Africana Studies in 2006, later serving as department chair. In 2013, she was named Director of CSREA, where she has worked to build a scholarly community to advance knowledge and understanding through research, education and public engagement on issues related to racial and ethnic discrimination. Under her leadership, CSREA has sought to tackle evolving ideas about definitions of race and ethnicity, and to focus on culture, theory, social issues, policies, the arts, and expressive cultures as they relate to key racial, ethnic, and indigenous groups in the United States.

She is the author of several books, and is perhaps best known for her ground-breaking work on the emergence of hip-hop culture, Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. She graduated from Yale University where she received a B.A. in sociology, and earned her Ph.D. from Brown University in American studies.

The University has outlined essential actions needed to advance academic excellence by building a more exceptional and diverse community of scholars. I look forward to working closely with Professor Rose in this work. Please feel free to write to her directly with any questions or ideas you may have.

Sincerely,

Richard M. Locke

Provost