Date May 6, 2025
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Professor of History Ethan Pollock named Brown University’s new dean of the College

An accomplished historian and academic leader, Pollock looks forward to guiding and strengthening the academic experience for more than 7,200 undergraduates.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Ethan Pollock, a distinguished faculty member and academic leader with nearly 20 years of service to Brown, will become the University’s new dean of the College, effective July 1. 

In the role, Pollock will serve as Brown’s senior officer with oversight of undergraduate programs, whose responsibilities include overseeing the University’s student-centered Open Curriculum, academic advising, study abroad, undergraduate research opportunities and career exploration.

In a Tuesday, May 6, campus message announcing Pollock’s appointment, Provost Francis J. Doyle III said the history scholar’s experience as an accomplished educator, researcher, adviser and academic department leader position him for success as dean.

“Ethan is an exceptionally thoughtful scholar with a deep understanding and appreciation for the College and a commitment to ensuring that students can fully access the singular academic experience that Brown offers,” Doyle wrote. “For nearly 20 years, he has embodied Brown’s mission and values through his teaching, research and effective leadership, driven by vision, energy and empathy.”

Reporting directly to Doyle, Pollock will serve as a member of the president’s cabinet, the president’s executive committee and the provost’s leadership group of senior academic deans, which coordinates academic priorities across the University. He succeeds Professor of Engineering and Physics Rashid Zia, who will conclude his term in June and return to the Brown faculty.

A professor of history and Slavic studies who joined the Brown faculty in 2006, Pollock has served as chair of the Department of History since 2020. In that role, he has led one of the largest academic departments on campus, advancing the curriculum for undergraduate and graduate students and expanding collaborations with other departments, centers and institutes at the University.

“I value our undergraduates and the Open Curriculum and the way it nurtures collaborative scholarship and research,” Pollock said. “In my experience, bringing together students, faculty and staff from diverse disciplines and who have diverse views and life experiences is vital to learning. I’m eager to create circumstances that allow all students, faculty and staff to thrive and to carry forward Rashid Zia’s work to protect the strengths of the College.”

As dean, Pollock said he will work to sustain Brown’s distinctive strengths in academic advising, experiential learning, study abroad and financial support for students, as well as the University’s innovative approaches to undergraduate education and career exploration.

Building relationships at Brown is such a privilege, and it’s one I’m thrilled to embrace as dean. I love being around such smart, engaged and interesting students, faculty and staff who help me see the world anew every day.

Ethan Pollock Professor of History and Slavic Studies
 
Ethan Pollock

“Part of what makes learning and teaching here incredibly powerful and exciting is our students’ enthusiasm for shaping their own academic experiences and bringing different expertise, backgrounds and life experiences into the same room to study and think about complex problems,” Pollock said. “I think Brown students thrive because they take pleasure in the brilliance of others, and because there’s a wide range of ways to be successful.”

An accomplished teacher and scholar

Pollock will oversee the undergraduate academic deans and staff responsible for administering instruction and research in support of Brown’s more than 7,200 undergraduate students. The College has approximately 75 staff members and employs more than 500 student employees.

During his tenure as history department chair, Pollock led the creation of a postdoctoral program, supported career development for faculty and advanced fundraising, among many accomplishments, according to Doyle.

“Ethan brings phenomenal perspective to this role, and his background and strengths will complement our other senior leaders’ expertise in engineering, biology and medicine, public health and the more quantitative social sciences,” Doyle wrote. “In addition to his scholarly expertise and academic work, he has excelled at managing a large academic department and serving the different needs of students, faculty and staff.”

Pollock holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Tufts University as well as master’s and Ph.D. degrees in history from the University of California, Berkeley. He spent two years as a U.S. history teacher in Moscow before earning his doctorate and has served as a fellow at George Washington University, Columbia University, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and the European University Institute. From 2003 to 2006, he was an assistant professor of history at Syracuse University.

Since arriving at Brown in 2006, Pollock has taught undergraduate and graduate courses on Russian and Soviet history, the nuclear age and the Cold War. In 2016, he was presented with Brown’s William G. McLoughlin Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Social Sciences.

“I approach the world as a historian and a humanist,” Pollock said. “I’m also a historian of science, and in that capacity, I have a deep interest in understanding how science can function well, and the conditions necessary for scientists to thrive, whether they’re students or scholars.”

Pollock’s research and writing has been funded by numerous organizations, including Fulbright-Hays, the International Research and Exchanges Board, the Social Science Research Council, and the American Council of Learned Societies. He is the author of two books, including an examination of Soviet politics, science and ideology during the first years of the Cold War.

As the University’s research enterprise continues to grow, Pollock said he will advocate for expanded research opportunities for undergraduates and integrated approaches to curriculum development and knowledge production across the range of academic experiences at Brown, from undergraduate through post-graduate.

Leading the College amid a national climate in which trust in higher education is frequently tested and universities are facing challenges to their ability to fulfill crucial aspects of their missions will require focus on building trust and a culture of listening, Pollock said.

“I think we’re in an important moment for the University, and I’ll look for ways to build trust, explore difference safely and respectfully, and create space where we can make mistakes and learn and grow,” Pollock said. “When students use their time at Brown to explore and examine their core beliefs and open themselves to changing their positions and their understanding of the world, they graduate in a far better position to contribute to it.”

Pollock said he looks forward to developing relationships with more students, faculty, academic leaders, alumni and parents — and promoting a culture in which staff are supported and can excel in their roles.

“Building relationships at Brown is such a privilege, and it’s one I’m thrilled to embrace as dean,” Pollock said. “I love being around such smart, engaged and interesting students, faculty and staff who help me see the world anew every day.”