Leadership

Jeffrey J. Cohen is Dean of Humanities and Foundation Professor of English at Arizona State University. Since becoming dean in 2018, he has led a comprehensive transformation of the humanities through strategic investments in faculty excellence, student success, interdisciplinary innovation, philanthropy, and public engagement. He oversees a division of 350 faculty, 80 staff, and a $74 million budget while contributing to the leadership of one of the nation’s largest and most innovative public research universities.

Under Cohen’s leadership, humanities enrollments and majors have grown substantially, more than $20 million has been raised in philanthropic support, and faculty have secured over $34 million in external research funding from organizations including the National Science Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Department of Education, Department of Defense, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, and the Henry Luce Foundation. He has recruited award winning new faculty members through innovative hiring initiatives that have helped attract internationally recognized scholars and creative artists, including Pulitzer Prize winners and MacArthur Fellows. He also led the reimagining of major academic facilities to create student-centered spaces that foster collaboration, experiential learning, and community engagement.

A nationally recognized higher education leader, Cohen has championed a vision of liberal arts education that integrates rigorous intellectual inquiry with career preparation, civic responsibility, and technological innovation. He has established career-connected learning initiatives, expanded internship opportunities and alumni engagement, strengthened support for first-generation and Indigenous students, and helped position the humanities as an essential partner in preparing graduates to flourish in a rapidly changing world. His leadership and ideas have been featured by NPR, The New York Times, Inside Higher Ed, and U.S. News & World Report, and he has served in national leadership roles with organizations including the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Humanities Alliance, and the Modern Language Association.

An internationally acclaimed scholar, Cohen has impacted the fields of medieval studies, environmental humanities, and monster theory through research that has influenced scholars across disciplines as well as artists, writers, and the broader public. He is the author or editor of more than twenty books and the recipient of numerous honors, including Guggenheim and ACLS fellowships. Throughout his career, he has believed that universities are at their strongest when they unite scholarly excellence with innovation, opportunity, and meaningful public impact.

An overview of his leadership and accomplishments as Dean of Humanities is available here.