Inaugural Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of SGS

July 31, 2023

Dear Rutgers–New Brunswick and RBHS Community,

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Gregory Robson as the inaugural Associate Vice Provost for Graduate Education for Rutgers University–New Brunswick and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies (AVP-GE and Dean of SGS), effective August 1.

This role expands that of the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) to encompass new initiatives focused on graduate student success, the graduate student experience, and graduate student belonging. Among other new initiatives, Dr. Robson will lead the Graduate Education and Student Support Initiative, part of our implementation of the Rutgers–New Brunswick Academic Master Plan. In the new role of Associate Vice Provost, Dr. Robson will oversee and advocate for the well-being of all Rutgers–New Brunswick graduate students, increase the visibility of graduate education, and expand our graduate education-related partnerships with the State of New Jersey, under the direction of Provost Saundra Tomlinson-Clarke. Further, as SGS Dean, Dr. Robson will lead the academic unit that supports graduate education for Rutgers–New Brunswick and Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS). As such, in this role Dr. Robson will report jointly to the Rutgers–New Brunswick Chancellor and the RBHS Chancellor and will work closely with SGS Vice Dean Kathleen Scotto. Dr. Scotto will maintain her academic and administrative roles within RBHS as Vice Chancellor for Research and Vice Dean, School of Graduate Studies.

Dr. Robson currently serves as Distinguished Professor and Extension Specialist in Plant Biology and Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. He brings a broad range of administrative experience, having served previously in various leadership roles including director of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, associate director of Rutgers Cooperative Extension, executive director of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, and assistant dean of student affairs. Due to his longstanding record of commitment to graduate education and research, Dr. Robson is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a recipient of Rutgers University’s Warren I. Susman Award for Excellence in Teaching, among other prestigious fellowships and awards. He is one of just three U.S. citizens to receive an Honorary Doctorate from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok for his work in establishing a Global Environmental Health Center and Graduate Program in Environmental and Occupational Training.

Please join us in welcoming Associate Vice Provost/Dean Robson to this exciting new role.

Please join us also in thanking Interim Dean Henrik Pedersen who led SGS with great distinction since July 2021. Dean Pedersen will continue serving as a Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering in the School of Engineering and we wish him great continued success as a member of our campus community.

We also wish to thank the committee that led the search for the inaugural AVP-GE and Dean of SGS, which was led by Executive Vice Dean James Masschaele.

Sincerely,

Francine Conway, Ph.D.
Chancellor and Distinguished Professor
Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Brian L. Strom, MD, MPH
Chancellor, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, Rutgers