Dean of academic affairs in Arts and Sciences will take on leadership role in graduate education at Tufts
Photo: Alonso Nichols
Bárbara Brizuela has been named the next dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) and will assume her role on January 1, 2022.
“Given her deep experience as an academic dean, her impressive skill and finesse at administration, her many years of teaching and mentoring graduate students, and her expertise and scholarship in the field of education, she is ideal for this important leadership role,” said James M. Glaser, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences.
Brizuela will continue to carry an academic dean title, but the portfolio of departments and programs she will supervise will switch to Education, Occupational Therapy, Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Museum Studies, Diversity and Inclusion Leadership, and Data Analytics.
As dean of academic affairs in arts and sciences, Brizuela played an instrumental role on the strategic planning around diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice issues in the school. She currently serves, on behalf of the School of Arts and Sciences, as an associate dean for diversity and inclusion, and also co-chaired one of the university's anti-racism workstreams, on equity and inclusion.
Brizuela began her career at Tufts in 2001 as an assistant professor in the Department of Education. She was promoted to associate professor in 2007 and to professor in 2015. She is also affiliated with the Cognitive Studies Ph.D. Program. She served as the chair of her department in 2009-2012 and as the director of the STEM Education Program from 2009 to 2014.
Her current research focuses on children’s learning of elementary mathematics, including algebraic reasoning and other notational aspects of mathematics, as well as mathematics teachers’ learning and professional development. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, books, and edited volumes in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and her research has been and continues to be funded by the National Science Foundation and the Spencer Foundation.
Brizuela will take a sabbatical leave from July 1 to Dec. 31 before assuming her new GSAS role in the new calendar year.
