Dear Members of the Brown Community,

I write today to share that after seven years of exceptional service as Brown’s dean of the College, Rashid Zia will step down from his leadership role effective June 30, 2025. He will return to his teaching and research as a professor of engineering and physics here at Brown, where he will continue to make an impact through his scholarly contributions.

A member of Brown’s Class of 2001 who joined the faculty in 2006, Rashid has devoted nearly half his life to Brown. Since his appointment as dean, he has offered a unique blend of academic excellence, visionary leadership and deep, personal commitment to student success. He has been a steadfast advocate for Brown’s distinctive approach to undergraduate education, and his efforts have ensured that our students have the best education to empower them to achieve meaningful lives and careers.

Since his start as dean, Rashid has offered adept oversight of academic advising, classroom instruction and the student-centered Open Curriculum for Brown’s nearly 7,300 undergraduates, stewarding initiatives like the launch of Brown’s Center for Career Exploration and the expansion of undergraduate teaching and research opportunities. His tenure has been marked by a wide range of accomplishments, including enhancements to academic advising, the expansion of experiential learning and study abroad, increased financial support for students through the Emergency-Gap Funding program and the data-driven policy changes it has enabled, and revitalizing the Meiklejohn Peer Advising Program in partnership with staff and students. A consistent theme for Rashid and his colleagues has been leveraging data, together with community feedback, to inform changes that expand equity and access.

Rashid has offered critical leadership throughout his tenure, perhaps most notably during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when he steered the adaptation and development of academic policies during a time of tremendous global uncertainty. 

Please join me in expressing our deepest gratitude for Rashid’s impact and commitment to students. Before he returns to full-time teaching and research, he will take a sabbatical year in Japan with his wife and their 12-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter before returning to campus for the start of the 2026-27 academic year.

We plan to conduct an internal search for a new dean. We will update the community with more information in the coming weeks as we move forward with this important process. 

Sincerely,

Francis J. Doyle III

Provost