Sarah Delaney, Professor of Chemistry, will become the new Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the Graduate School beginning on July 1, 2022. She will serve as a core member of the Graduate School leadership team, providing skilled guidance and coordination of the academic affairs of the Graduate School. 

Thomas Lewis, incoming interim Dean of the Graduate School, shares that Delaney is a highly accomplished scholar with a strong history of commitment to graduate education at Brown. Delaney has served as a Director of Graduate Study (DGS) and mentored many doctoral students at Brown. 

“As the DGS in Chemistry, she has built a strong record of supporting students and the program as a whole--with particular attention to the impact on students who have been underrepresented in their discipline. She will make a great addition to the Graduate School," says Lewis.

In 2020, Delaney’s graduate advising was recognized with the Graduate School Faculty Award for Advising and Mentoring. She has also served on the Graduate Council, where she made important contributions to discussions and policies that affect programs across the University. 

"I am excited for this opportunity to collaborate with Dean Lewis and the entire Graduate School team. I look forward to working with programs across campus and serving as a thought partner in graduate education," shares Delaney.

Research in Delaney’s laboratory is focused on establishing a chemically logical roadmap to understand how DNA damage relates to genetic change and human disease. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. She was the recipient of the Outstanding New Environmental Scientist Award from NIH/NIEHS and the Philip J. Bray Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Physical Sciences from Brown University. In addition to researching the biochemistry of DNA damage, Delaney has an interest in how chemistry influences food and cooking. 

Delaney earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Middlebury College and her doctoral degree in Chemistry from Caltech. Prior to coming to Brown in 2007, she served as a Damon Runyon postdoctoral fellow at MIT.