Office of the Provost

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to share an important update regarding the leadership of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS). Following a prescribed review process and after careful consideration and thoughtful conversations with current interim dean, Dr. Ofer Harel, I am pleased to announce that we will be extending his appointment as the permanent dean of CLAS for a three-year term, effective immediately.

In his time as interim dean, Dr. Harel has made significant strides in propelling CLAS forward. He has successfully appointed several new department heads; initiated a cluster hire in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning that spans multiple disciplines in the sciences, social sciences and humanities; and has invested in interdisciplinary collaborations across schools and colleges to support innovative research. He has shown strong advocacy for CLAS throughout his tenure as interim dean.

At UConn, Dr. Harel has served in various administrative roles, including CLAS Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Affairs and Director of Graduate Admissions in the Department of Statistics. Nationally, he is currently appointed to the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics. He has been a key figure in several committees, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) study section and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Technical Advisory Committee. Dr. Harel has methodological expertise in areas including missing data techniques, diagnostic tests, longitudinal studies, Bayesian methods, sampling techniques, mixture models, and statistical consulting. His collaborative consulting work has spanned research fields such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, health disparities, anti-racism, and substance abuse prevention. He earned his Ph.D. in statistics from Pennsylvania State University, followed by post-doctoral training at the University of Washington, where he worked with the Health Services Research & Development (HSR&D) Center of Excellence at the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System and the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC).

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the review process. Your active participation is greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank the members of the review committee for their diligence and thoughtfulness in conducting this review, including Vice Provost and Dean Kent Holsinger, Professor Douglas Adamson, Professor Jason Chang, Allison Goldsnider, Campus Dean Mark Overmyer-Velazquez, Professor Nalini Ravishanker and Professor Marlene Schwartz.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Harel on his appointment. His leadership will be pivotal as we work to further the goals of CLAS and our university’s broader objectives. I look forward to our continued work together over the coming years.  Given that the timing of this announcement fell when many may be on well-deserved vacations or otherwise not engaged with their university emails, I will be sure to include this announcement again in the provost’s newsletter this August.

Sincerely,
Anne

Anne D’Alleva, PhD
Provost and Executive Vice President
University of Connecticut
Office of the Provost
352 Mansfield Road, U-1086
Storrs CT 06269-1086
Tel. 860-486-4037

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