Rick Brazier named permanent dean of Penn State’s 14-campus University College

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Rick Brazier, senior associate dean for faculty and research in the Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses, has been named dean of Penn State's 14-campus University College. Brazier served as interim dean of the University College since February 2022 and will begin the permanent appointment on Sept. 2, 2024.

"This is an important time for the Commonwealth Campuses. We are in a period of transition, and Rick's appointment as permanent dean will provide the campuses and the faculty he supports with much-needed stability and continuity, especially those on the promotion and tenure path," said Margo DelliCarpini, vice president for Commonwealth Campuses and executive chancellor. "Rick's experience in this role and expert knowledge of the campuses within the University College, as well as the important relationships he has established across the University, will be critical to developing our future-state organization."

Brazier will be responsible for all matters related to promotion and tenure for the member campuses of the University College and will provide strategic leadership in academic development. He will work closely with chancellors and campus leaders, faculty, staff and other stakeholders in establishing an academic and strategic vision that will advance the mission of the institution, in addition to playing a critical role supporting the academic portfolio and program review process. Brazier will provide guidance to leaders within the University College and other administrators on a wide range of issues related to academic and faculty affairs, in addition to overseeing program quality, curriculum and instruction assessment; faculty support, budgeting and fiscal management; new program development; and student enrollment, retention and success.

The University College is the collective administrative umbrella for 14 Penn State undergraduate campuses: Beaver, Brandywine, DuBois, Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Hazleton, Lehigh Valley, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Schuylkill, Scranton, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York. More than 3,500 students are enrolled in the University College, which offers 27 bachelor's degree programs in addition to a number of associate degree programs, certificate programs and minors, and employs over 500 full-time faculty members.

"I am honored to have been offered this opportunity to continue supporting faculty across the University and to have a larger impact on academic and faculty affairs operations at the campuses within the University College and an even greater impact on student success," Brazier said. "I have been fortunate to work with many talented individuals during my career at Penn State, and I look forward to building upon those relationships to create synergies, programmatic successes and an enhanced student experience across all of the University College campuses."

Prior to serving as interim dean, Brazier was the senior associate dean for faculty and research in the Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses since 2017. Brazier is also a professor of mathematics and geology. He began his Penn State career in 1996 as a research associate in the Department of Geosciences in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. He then served as an instructor and subsequently a tenure-line faculty member at Penn State DuBois, reaching the rank of professor in 2017. From 2011 to 2013 he served as the University College's mathematics discipline coordinator and in 2013 was named interim senior associate dean for faculty and research. In 2011, he earned the George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Brazier holds a doctorate in applied mathematics with a geophysics emphasis and a master of science in applied mathematics, both from the University of Arizona, and he earned a bachelor of science in mathematics from the University of Bath in the United Kingdom.