Dean Roberts-Breslin Named Interim Provost

Dear members of the Emerson community:

I am pleased to announce that Jan Roberts-Breslin, Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies at Emerson, has accepted my invitation to serve in an interim role as the College’s Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs beginning November 13, 2021.
 
Dean Roberts-Breslin will succeed Michaele Whelan, who recently announced that she has accepted the presidency at Wheaton College and will depart Emerson on November 12. Dean Roberts-Breslin will serve in the interim position until a permanent provost is named. It is expected that a search for the permanent position will be launched in accordance with the Faculty Handbook when a new President of Emerson College takes office.

As Emerson’s chief academic officer, Dean Roberts-Breslin will lead our domestic and international academic programs and oversee teaching, research, ongoing faculty searches and promotions, our upcoming accreditation, and participate in the College’s Community Equity Action Plan. 

Dean Roberts-Breslin, who holds the position of Professor of Visual and Media Arts,began serving as the interim head of Graduate and Professional Studies in 2014 and took the permanent role in 2017. She was the Founding Director of Emerson’s MFA in Film and Media Art program and has previously served as Faculty Assembly Chair. 

A media artist whose experimental video work has won awards at international and domestic festivals, she is also the author of Making Media: Foundations of Sound and Image Production, 4th edition (2018) by Routledge Publishing, with a fifth edition in progress. From 2014-2018 she was a summer visiting scholar at Communications University of China in Beijing. Prior to Emerson, she was an Assistant Professor of Communication at Seton Hall University. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film and Video Production from Temple University. 

She is well positioned to continue the important work ahead of us this academic year, as planned for by Dr. Whelan and her talented team of deans, chairs and academic affairs staff. 

Please join me in congratulating Dean Roberts-Breslin and welcoming her to this interim role as provost and vice president.

Sincerely,
William Gilligan, EdD
Interim President