Dear Colleagues,
I’m delighted to share with you that Dean Anne D’Alleva of the School of Fine Arts (SFA) has agreed to serve as our interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs beginning May 20.
Anne, who has served as Fine Arts Dean since 2015, is a well-known and very highly regarded colleague and academic leader here at UConn. She is a great champion of innovative and creative collaborative efforts across disciplines, schools and colleges, including between the School of Fine Arts and the School of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Human Rights Institute, and even UConn Athletics.
Anne founded, along with Dean Kazem Kazerounian, the Krenicki Arts & Engineering Institute, with a $5 million gift from John and Donna Krenicki. She collaborated with the Human Rights Institute on a hiring initiative in 2021 to create a research cluster in arts and human rights. She established the School of Fine Arts Advisory Board and, as part of a larger alumni engagement efforts, also established the Recent Alumni Council. With philanthropic support, Anne expanded career-readiness and professional-development programming for both undergraduate and graduate students. She also created the SFA STEAM research grant, the SFA Anti-Racism Research Grant, and has expanded research funding in the school by five-fold in her time as dean.
Anne has also been closely involved in numerous new construction and renovation projects throughout the school, including the renovation of von der Mehden Recital Hall; the building of the new SFA Production facility; the creation of new graduate studio art studios at Kirby Mill; and the creation of new, specialized studios for animation, green-screen, virtual reality work, and film.
An effective administrator and tireless advocate for our students, faculty, and staff, Anne has formed vital partnerships not only with her fellow deans, but colleagues throughout the university and across the state. She established a unique partnership with the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum to host the graduate Arts Leadership & Cultural Management Program and also serves on the board of Hartford Stage. These partnerships, along with her experience, very successful tenure as dean, and exceptionally collegial approach make her ideally suited to serve in this senior role. She is the first woman to serve as UConn’s Provost in our history.
Anne first joined the university in the fall of 1999 as a joint appointment to Art History and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She has served in many institutional leadership roles, including as a member of the University’s Academic Vision committee. Prior to being named Fine Arts Dean, she served as an Associate Dean for the School of Fine Arts and as the Head of the Art & Art History Department.
She received her B.A in Art History from Harvard University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Art History from Columbia University with a graduate certificate in feminist theory. Prior to her arrival at UConn, she completed postdoctoral fellowships at Australian National University and through the Getty Foundation. Her books Fundamentals of Art History (3rd ed., 2021) and Methods and Theories of Art History (3rd ed., 2021) have been published in multiple languages worldwide.
I am looking forward to working together with Anne, her team of vice provosts, the deans, and our CFO to prioritize and review budgets with a strong focus on students’ interests and success. In addition, we will work on strengthening our collaborations with the community and our presence at the regional campuses.
Her May 20 start date will allow for a period of overlap and transition with our outgoing Provost, Carl Lejuez, who will depart at the end of June.
My great thanks to Anne for her willingness to take on this important interim role. Please join me in offering her our congratulations.
Sincerely,
Radenka Maric
Interim President, University of Connecticut
