Leadership

Badia Ahad is the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of English. As the institution’s chief academic officer, she ensures the quality of undergraduate, graduate and professional education and advances Emory’s progress as an eminent research university. The deans of Emory’s schools and colleges report to the provost on all academic matters. Additionally, Ahad provides leadership, guidance and support for academic units across the Office of the Provost, working closely with other senior leaders within the division and across the university to continue advancing important efforts to build strong schools, foster faculty eminence, ensure operational excellence and deliver an exceptional student experience.

Previously, Provost Ahad was the dean of Emory’s Oxford College, where she was responsible for crafting the overall vision and establishing the strategic priorities of the college. She served as Oxford’s chief academic, administrative, and fiscal officer while maintaining a wide portfolio of responsibilities, including academic affairs, campus life and housing, finance and operations, communications, enrollment services, technology, advancement, and human resources.

A scholar of literary and cultural studies, Ahad joined Emory in 2023 after serving 18 years on the faculty at Loyola University Chicago. At Loyola, she held numerous administrative posts including serving as the director of the university core curriculum and vice provost for faculty affairs. In the classroom, Ahad has been honored with numerous awards for teaching and scholarship excellence.

She has published widely on the intersection of African American literary and cultural studies and positive psychology, with a focus on the social, emotional, and psychological conditions that foster human flourishing. Ahad also served as principal investigator on a $1 million-dollar ADVANCE grant to support STEM faculty retention and equity, funded by the National Science Foundation. She is recognized as a national expert on faculty development and mentoring, having served for nearly a decade as the director of academic training for NCFDD.

Ahad graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and received her MA and PhD in English Literature from the University of Notre Dame.

Joseph Crespino is the interim dean of Emory College of Arts and Sciences.

He is one of the nation’s leading historians of the twentieth-century United States, with research expertise in modern political history, civil rights, and the American South. 

Crespino is the senior associate dean of faculty, divisional dean of humanities and social sciences, and the Jimmy Carter Professor of History at Emory University. His scholarship focuses on the political and cultural history of the United States and the American South since Reconstruction. 

He is the author of three books and the co-editor of a collection of essays. His work has appeared in leading academic journals as well as national publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Politico, and the Wall Street Journal. His most recent book, Atticus Finch: The Biography—Harper Lee, Her Father, and the Making of an American Icon, was published in 2018 by Basic Books. He is currently contributing chapters on twentieth- and twenty-first-century US history to America: A Narrative History, a leading textbook published by W. W. Norton and co-authored with David Emory Shi, Daina Ramey Berry, and Amy Murrell Taylor. 

His research has been supported by fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Academy of Education. In 2014, he served as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in American Studies at the University of Tübingen and has been named a distinguished lecturer by the Organization of American Historians. 

Valeda F. Dent serves as Emory University’s inaugural vice provost of Libraries, Michael C. Carlos Museum, and Center for Digital Scholarship, a position she began in July 2022 that unites Emory Libraries and the Michael C. Carlos Museum under a new leadership structure.

She works closely with the Office of the Provost to provide support in planning for the future of both areas, including advancing shared discovery and conservation of the university’s extraordinary collections while continuing to expand access, programming and community engagement.

In her role at Emory, Dent helps shape the libraries’ and museum’s support of the student flourishing and AI.Humanity initiatives. “Aligning teaching, learning and research opportunities with the mission of Emory University,” Dent remarks, “can help build a community of caring, well-informed and civically engaged students, and the museum and libraries can play a pivotal role.” 

Dent came to Emory from Hunter College of the City University of New York in New York City, where she served as acting provost and vice president for academic affairs as well as vice president for student success and learning innovation. 

At Hunter College, Dent was co-chair of the Presidential Task Force for the Advancement of Racial Equity. Important to her work at Emory, Dent believes strongly in the role of the library and museum in civic outreach and has a deep understanding of libraries and museums as centers of community empowerment and civic responsibility. Dent is an active scholar who travels, conducts and publishes high-impact research, and presents globally. She has a robust and consistent record of scholarly achievement in the areas of chronic poverty and literacy, rural African libraries, and literacy culture development and is a Fulbright Scholar. 

Prior to her appointments at Hunter College, Dent served as dean and university librarian at St. John’s University in Queens, New York, and dean and chief operating officer for the libraries at Long Island University.

She holds a PhD in information science from Long Island University, an MSW and an MILS from the University of Michigan, and a BA in film studies from Hunter College.

As senior vice provost for academic affairs, Pearl Dowe provides leadership, mentoring and transition support for the Office of the Provost, working closely with other senior leaders within the division and across the university to continue advancing important efforts in academic leadership recruitment and development, continually improving the faculty experience and furthering signature initiatives.

Dowe previously served as the vice provost for faculty affairs at Emory, where she was responsible for overseeing initiatives to enhance faculty development and academic excellence across the university.

Dowe is also the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Political Science and African American Studies with a joint appointment between the university’s Oxford College and Emory College of Arts and Sciences.  She is a distinguished scholar and leader whose work intersects the fields of political science, African American studies, and gender studies. Her most recent book, The Radical Imagination of Black Women: Ambition, Politics and Power (2023), has been widely recognized and awarded the Best Book Award from the American Political Science Association’s Race, Ethnicity and Politics section. Dowe is also the author of numerous articles and book chapters, and has been sought out to offer her expertise by media outlets such as the Washington Post, New York Times, Time Magazine and TheGrio.

She holds a PhD from Howard University, an MA from Georgia Southern University and a BS from Savannah State University.

Minnie Glymph is the Associate Vice President for Academic and Research Communications at Emory University. As a member of the leadership teams in both the Office of the Provost and the Office of Communications & Marketing, she works closely with colleagues across the university to develop and implement integrated communications strategies to promote Emory’s academic excellence and drive forward the provost’s ambitious academic and research initiatives.

Prior to joining Emory, Glymph served for 25 years in a variety of communications and marketing roles at Duke University and Duke Health, most recently as the senior executive director of communications for the Pratt School of Engineering. She was previously the director of marketing communications in the Duke Health Office of Marketing & Creative Services, and the founding editor of DukeMed Magazine.

Glymph has received more than 25 national and regional awards for communications and marketing projects from organizations including the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and Association for American Medical Colleges (AAMC), as well as Duke Engineering’s annual Award for Leadership in Program and Operational Excellence. A native of South Carolina, she is a graduate of the University of South Carolina Honors College.

Branden Grimmett joined Emory University in 2022 as the inaugural vice provost for career and professional development and associate dean in Emory College of Arts and Sciences. In this role, he oversees the newly created Pathways Center, an initiative that provides resources and experiences to Emory College students and alumni to help them reach their full potential. The Center encompasses: Career and Professional Development; Undergraduate Research Programs; National Scholarships and Fellowships; Pre-Health Advising; and Experiential Learning. The Center also serves as a single hub for recruiting Emory talent, attracting top employers in every industry locally, nationally, and globally.

Prior to Emory, Grimmett served as the associate provost at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Branden also taught career development theory and process to master’s level students at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education.

Grimmett was the founding director of the Piper Center for Vocation and Career at St. Olaf College, charged by the president to transform the career center into an innovative, results-oriented operation. Prior to St. Olaf, Grimmett served as associate director of career services at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, working with employers such as NATO, the United Nations, the Council on Foreign Relations, Capitol Hill, and the Intelligence Community to support graduate student career pathways in defense, energy, intelligence, politics, think tanks, and trade. Grimmett has held positions at Harvard University, Brill Neumann Associates, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and WorldTeach.

Grimmett received his Ed.D. in higher education administration from the University of Southern California. He received his M.T.S. from Harvard University in theological studies and his B.A. in music and religion from St. Olaf College. He is a classically trained pianist and organist and TONY®-nominated Broadway producer (The Piano Lesson; New York, New York; The Wiz; Othello).

Grimmett is a member of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the Council on Undergraduate Research, the National Association of Fellowships Advisors, the National Association of Advisors of Health Professions, and the Society for Experiential Education.

As Vice Provost for Academic Planning, David Jordan oversees the Academic Planning team, which manages several university planning and evaluation processes, including institutional accreditation, student learning outcomes assessment, student services assessment, new academic program approvals, the review of course offerings and faculty qualifications, and Office of the Provost reviews of colleges, schools, and key administrative units.

Jordan joined Emory in 2011 as the institution’s first Director of Institutional Effectiveness, developing and implementing a university-wide assessment reporting process for academic programs and academic support units. Since that time, he has taken on progressively responsible positions within the Office of the Provost, most recently as Associate Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Planning.

Jordan serves as Emory’s institutional accreditation liaison to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), ensuring that compliance with federal and institutional accreditation requirements is incorporated into the planning and evaluation processes of the university. David and the Academic Planning team helped lead Emory through two very successful ten-year reaffirmation of accreditation cycles (2014 and 2024). He regularly chairs SACSCOC review teams for research universities throughout the Southeastern United States and represents Emory and R1 institutions on SACSCOC advisory committees.

Jordan completed a Ph.D. in English from the University of Georgia, an MA in English from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a BA in English from the University of Mississippi. Prior to joining Emory, he was an English instructor for over fifteen years and taught composition and literature courses for the University of Georgia, Florida Atlantic University, and Colorado Mountain College, where he attained the rank of full professor and served as English department coordinator and faculty senate president before moving into academic administration.

Melanie Lawrence is Senior Vice Provost for Academic Finance and Operations at Emory University. Lawrence is a strategic thought partner to academic and administrative leaders across the university. She previously held the role of senior associate dean of finance, operations and information technology and chief business officer at Oxford College of Emory University, where she partnered with the dean of Oxford College and colleagues across campus in support of the educational mission. She oversaw and strengthened the college's financial standing and provided strategic direction and oversight for Oxford College operations, including Facilities Planning & Operations, Finance & Budget, Information Technology, Auxiliary Services, and the Organic Farm.

Lawrence began her higher education career at Emory University's School of Law, where she held a myriad of roles spanning across finance, international scholars program, and student services. She then leveraged her knowledge and expertise to strengthen the fiscal and operational standing of central research and lead the development and execution of enterprise-wide business strategies and initiatives to enhance research at Emory.

Lawrence is an Atlanta native and a proud alumnus of Emory University, having received her Executive MBA from Emory’s Goizueta Business School and has been an active Emory alum, most recently as Treasurer of the Executive Women of Goizueta Alumni Board. She received her Bachelor of Arts in History, Economics, and Geography from Georgia State University.