A&S DEAN DAVID QUIGLEY NAMED PROVOST, DEAN OF FACULTIES

Chestnut Hill, Mass (3-11-14)—University President William P. Leahy, SJ, has named David Quigley, dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences since 2009, as provost and dean of faculties for Boston College. Quigley, a respected administrator and distinguished historian, teacher and scholar, will assume the role on June 1. He succeeds Joseph Quinn, who has served as interim provost for the past year.

Quigley has held a series of academic leadership positions since arriving at Boston College in 1998 as an assistant professor of history, including associate dean for first-year students, the founding director of the Institute for the Liberal Arts, and interim dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

During his five years as dean, Quigley was credited with attracting and hiring an outstanding cohort of young faculty, strengthening academic opportunities for undergraduate students, and developing new interdisciplinary majors in Islamic civilization and societies and environmental studies. He also played a significant role in the conceptualization and design of Stokes Hall, the $78 million center of the humanities at Boston College, and in leading the ongoing effort to renew the core curriculum for undergraduate students.

He also won praise for his interdisciplinary and cross-school collaboration, which included his participation in the Teachers for a New Era initiative with the Lynch School of Education, assistance with the design of the Portico program for first-year students in the Carroll School of Management and the successful implementation of Fulbright summer institute programs on constitutional democracy with colleagues at the Law School.

“David Quigley is well suited to be the next provost of Boston College,” said Fr. Leahy. “He has excelled as a teacher and scholar in the History Department, understands the demands and possibilities of academic leadership from his years as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and both understands and supports BC's mission, especially its Jesuit, Catholic dimensions. I look forward to working with him to advance Boston College in the years ahead."

Executive Vice President Patrick Keating and Theology Department Chair Catherine Cornille, who led the search process, praised Quigley as an ideal choice to lead Boston College as its chief academic officer.

“In directing the largest college within the University for the past five years, David has succeeded in attracting and mentoring excellent young faculty, developing new programs in support of the University’s strategic goals, and in working with fellow deans to enhance Boston College’s academic profile,” said Keating. “I believe that he has the knowledge, experience and commitment to advance Boston College among the nation’s preeminent universities.”

Added Cornille, “During his tenure as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, David Quigley has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to liberal arts education in the Jesuit tradition. He knows Boston College from the inside and he has the vision, the experience and the dedication to carry the University forward on its trajectory of excellence."

Quigley said that he looks forward to beginning his new role and to building on the excellence and momentum that exists at Boston College.

“It is an enormous honor to assume the role of provost,” said Quigley. “When Fr. Leahy asked me to take on this responsibility, I thought of all the talented faculty and administrators with whom I have worked over the past 16 years and all that they have accomplished. It’s an awesome responsibility to sustain and advance what they have achieved here, but it is also incredibly exciting to think of our opportunities, of the ways in which we can strengthen our undergraduate and graduate programs and develop an extraordinary cohort of young faculty to position Boston College even more firmly among the world’s great universities.”

Quigley says he is eager to learn more about the excellence that exists in the professional schools across campus and to work with the deans to further develop strengths in cross-school collaboration. “It is key that we build, retain and develop the very best faculty in all schools, faculty who are wonderful teachers and cutting-edge researchers committed to BC’s distinctive mission,” said Quigley.

“We believe in transformative undergraduate education in the Jesuit tradition, and I think that there are steps we can take and investments we can make over the next few years that can reaffirm and deepen our commitment to excellence in liberal arts education, including making more sustained investments in the natural sciences, and strengthening the core curriculum to improve the educational experience for all of our undergraduate students.”

A graduate of Amherst College, Quigley received both his MA and PhD from New York University, where his scholarly focus was on 19th century American history with an emphasis on urban and political history during the Civil War and Reconstruction. The author of three books, an e-book and multiple articles and book chapters, Quigley is currently working on a new book exploring the international lives of the American Civil War, and two edited volumes: a collection of scholarly essays on urban history, and a documentary history of Boston during the tumultuous era of busing.

He is the recipient of several academic fellowships, including the Charlotte Newcomb Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, the Gilder-Lehrman Fellowship in American History and the Boston College Faculty Fellowship, and multiple academic honors, including the University-wide Distinguished Teaching Award from Boston College in 2007, and the Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award for his book Jim Crow New York, in 2004.

Quigley said he is grateful to Fr. Leahy for giving him this opportunity, and to Quinn for the work he did this past year and for his commitment to collaborative leadership. “One of the reasons I ended up in an administrative career was because I saw the enormous good that Joe Quinn did during his eight years as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences,” said Quigley. “I look forward to working with faculty, deans and senior administrators to build upon his leadership, and the many competitive advantages that Boston College’s distinctive mission provides us within the landscape of contemporary higher education.”

Jack Dunn, News & Public Affairs