Announcing the Next Dean of Oxford College of Emory University
Dear Oxford College Community,
It is with great excitement that we announce the next dean of Oxford College of Emory University, Professor Badia Ahad. Badia is currently vice provost for faculty affairs and a professor of English at Loyola University Chicago, where she has served on the faculty since 2005. She will begin her service at Oxford on August 1.
A scholar of African American literature and culture, Badia is an award-winning teacher, a public intellectual, and an outstanding leader whose expertise includes faculty mentoring and development, strategic planning, advancing belonging and inclusion, curriculum development, and financial acumen. Out of a very strong pool of candidates, we have chosen in Badia a dean with the gravitas, sensibilities and commitment to advance an ambitious vision for Oxford College.
In her leadership roles, which also include serving as director of Loyola’s University Core Curriculum and director of academic training for the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity, Badia has demonstrated her capacity for both envisioning and advancing strategic priorities. Her broad experience and effective management skills are well-matched to leading Oxford College, and to building upon its unique strengths as a compelling living and learning community and a model for undergraduate education.
Badia arrives at Oxford at an exciting time. As dean, she will work with Oxford students and colleagues across both campuses to guide the direction of the Student Flourishing initiative as it expands, including through the launch of Oxford’s Center for Pathways and Purpose this fall. Additionally, she will guide Oxford’s efforts to advance faculty eminence, innovative scholarship and other priorities set forth in our shared strategic framework, One Emory: Ambition and Heart.
During her interviews, Badia spoke eloquently about her ambitions for Oxford College and its community as well as the principles she holds close to her heart—including a commitment to advancing impactful and innovative research and pedagogy, inclusive excellence, and community engagement within a broader framework of care for the whole person. Her deep insight into the challenges today’s students face as well as her appreciation for Oxford College’s core principles reinforce our confidence in Badia’s ability to grasp the special character of the Oxford community and advance initiatives under which the entire community can thrive.
In addition, her talent for building partnerships will reinforce a student-centered approach to education university-wide, enabling second-year students pass seamlessly from Oxford to the Atlanta campus, intellectually and geographically.
Badia earned her MA and PhD at the University of Notre Dame after receiving a BA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research sits at the intersection of African American studies and positive psychology, examining how key aspects within the field of positive psychology, including well-being, resilience, flourishing, and thriving, are operative in African American life.
As I reflect on the potential Badia represents for Oxford’s future, I also want to acknowledge Ken Carter for his outstanding service as interim dean over the past year. In this role, Ken exemplified Oxford’s principles—belong, care, accountability, learning, identity, and presence—and reinforced the community engagement for which the college is known.
I’m also grateful to the Search Advisory Committee, which demonstrated its commitment to Oxford College and its future throughout the hiring process. We could not have asked for more enthusiasm or energy from the committee and its leaders, including chair Jan Love, dean of Candler School of Theology, and co-chair Molly McGehee, associate dean for faculty development at Oxford.
I encourage you to check today’s Emory Report to hear more from Badia as she looks forward to leading Oxford into the future.
Ravi V. Bellamkonda
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs