Announcing Emory’s Next Provost

Dear Emory Community,

I am excited to announce the appointment of Dean Badia Ahad to serve as Emory’s next provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. Her two-year term will begin on November 1. 

Dean Ahad has been an extraordinary member of our community since joining Emory a few years ago as dean of Oxford College. She has demonstrated remarkable leadership, vision, and a genuine commitment to cultivating a strong and inclusive academic community. At Oxford, she has overseen academic affairs, student life, and operations to elevate both the faculty and student experience. Her thoughtful leadership has already left a lasting mark, and I have every confidence she will bring that same energy and excellence to the provost role.

What distinguishes Dean Ahad is her record of accomplishment and her leadership qualities. She is admired for her ability to build community, to listen carefully, and to act with both courage and compassion. As a respected academic leader at Emory, she has built trust and credibility that will serve us well as she pursues several key priorities as provost: fostering a culture of collaboration, transparency, and excellence; elevating the academic and holistic student experience; investing in faculty research and teaching; and advancing operational systems that better support teaching, research, and enrollment vitality.

Dean Ahad’s career reflects depth and breadth in academic leadership. Before arriving at Emory, she served as vice provost for faculty affairs at Loyola University Chicago, where she helped position the institution for its successful attainment of R-1 Carnegie Classification in 2025, the top national designation for research universities.  At Loyola, she also secured and directed a National Science Foundation ADVANCE Adaptation grant to strengthen mentoring, professional pathways, equitable workload policies, and interdisciplinary connections for faculty. She designed and led a seed funding program that significantly expanded research capacity, generating extraordinary returns on investment — over 2,500% in the first year and nearly 10,000% in the second — prompting Loyola to make it a permanent program. 

At Oxford College, her impact has been equally impressive. She established a framework to address competitive compensation, ensuring the retention and recruitment of top faculty and staff talent. She launched the Oxford Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship to enrich the curriculum and strengthen the faculty pipeline. She transformed Oxford's approach to external funding by prioritizing a grant-seeking culture, which has increased external grant funding by nearly 50% in just 18 months. She also partnered with the University of Georgia’s School of Social Work to bring Master of Social Work interns to Oxford, enhancing wellness and mental health support for students. Beyond these initiatives, she founded Global Oxford to expand international learning opportunities, including the popular Oxford Launch London program. She led strategic branding and storytelling efforts that have produced a 40% increase in “Oxford-only” applications.

In the coming days, Emory will share a plan for an interim dean at Oxford to allow the college to move forward with strength as it continues to advance its strategic priorities, support faculty and staff, and enrich the student experience.

As Emory celebrates our next provost, I want to take a moment to express my deep gratitude to Lanny Liebeskind for serving as interim provost since January 1.  Interim Provost Liebeskind answered the call to serve an institution he has called home for over 40 years, providing our community with leadership and grace during a period of transformation and opportunity.  I appreciate his guidance and advocacy for our academic community, as well as the support he has shown me as interim president. On November 1, Interim Provost Liebeskind will return to his role as senior vice provost for academic affairs, supporting Provost Ahad during her first months in office before beginning a year-long sabbatical in 2026.

Badia Ahad’s appointment marks an important moment for Emory. I am confident that with Provost Ahad’s leadership, we will continue to strengthen our academic mission and chart a thoughtful path for the years ahead.

Sincerely,
Justice Leah Ward Sears 80L
Interim President