Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, has recently announced an academic realignment, establishing four new schools that integrate the university’s graduate professional programs into its liberal arts curriculum. All four schools will be led by women.
“We are creating a structure that reflects how the world is changing,” said Brandies University President Arthur Levine. “Brandeis students need both deep academic knowledge and the ability to apply it. What’s unique about this effort is that our highly successful and recognized professional programs will now be incorporated into the undergraduate experience.”
Harleen Singh is dean of the School of Arts, Humanities, and Culture. An associate professor of South Asian literature and women’s studies, Dr. Singh has previously served as chair of the South Asian studies program and as faculty representative to the board of trustees. Her research centers on novels from India and Pakistan, Indian film, hip-hop music, sexuality, and feminism. She has authored several scholarly publications, including The Rani of Jhansi: Gender, History, and Fable in India (Cambridge University Press, 2014).
Dr. Singh is a graduate of Sweet Briar College, a women’s liberal arts institution in Virginia. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego.
Linda Bui is dean of the School of Business and Economics. Dr. Bui is a full professor of economics who has taught at Brandeis since 2004. She has served in a wide-range of leadership positions throughout her tenure, including senior associate provost for assessment and accreditation, senior associate dean of academic programs for the business school, and director of the Ph.D. program in international economics and finance. A specialist in environmental economics, she focuses her research on the effectiveness of regulatory measures and their impact on wider economic outcomes.
Dr. Bui earned her Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Susan Birren is dean of the School of Science, Engineering, and Technology. She currently holds the title of Zalman Abraham Kekst Professor in Neuroscience. Prior to Brandeis’ new academic alignment, she was division head of sciences for the School of Arts and Sciences. In her lab, she leads research focused on the molecular and cellular interactions that direct the development and function of the peripheral sympathetic neurons that innervate peripheral organs and regulate cardiac function and blood pressure.
Dr. Birren received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Sara Shostak is dean of the School of Social Sciences and Social Policy. A full professor in the department of sociology, she recently completed a three-year stint as the inaugural director of the Vic ’63 and Bobbie Samuels ’63 Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation. As a medical sociologist, she aims to advance the understanding of the social production of health and illness across diverse contexts. Her most recent book is Back to the Roots: Memory, Inequality, and Urban Agriculture (Rutgers University Press, 2021).
A graduate of Reed College in Portland, Oregon, Dr. Shostak holds a master of public health degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Ph.D. from the University of California, San Francisco.