Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has named Jeffrey Bardzell, a nationally recognized interdisciplinary scholar and academic leader, as its new Peterson Family Dean of Arts and Sciences. Currently serving as vice provost for artificial intelligence and chief AI officer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Bardzell was appointed following a nationwide search to lead WPI’s School of Arts and Sciences. His appointment is effective May 26, 2026.
“Jeffrey Bardzell brings an exceptional combination of intellectual breadth, administrative experience, and strategic vision,” said Andrew Sears, WPI’s senior vice president of academic affairs and provost. “His leadership in advancing AI strategy, strengthening research identity, supporting faculty development, and aligning curriculum with workforce needs makes him uniquely qualified to lead Arts and Sciences at a time of profound change in higher education. We are thrilled to welcome him to WPI.”
As dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at WPI, Bardzell will lead seven academic departments—biology and biotechnology; chemistry and biochemistry; computer science; humanities and arts; mathematical sciences; physics; and social science and policy studies, as well as interdisciplinary programs in environmental studies; interactive media and game development; artificial intelligence; financial mathematics; robotics engineering, and others that reflect WPI’s distinctive integration of STEM with the arts and humanities.
“I was drawn to WPI because, as a school that blends research excellence with experiential learning, it is well positioned to address disruptive issues facing higher education, including artificial intelligence,” said Bardzell. “The school’s interdisciplinary work, grounded in innovation, human-centered thinking, ethics, and social responsibility, offers a blueprint for the future of work—and the future of impactful lives and careers.”
An accomplished scholar who has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and four academic books, Barzdell has secured more than $13 million in external research funding as principal or co-principal investigator. His academic journey spans comparative literature, media studies, human-computer interaction, design studies, and information science, reflecting a deeply interdisciplinary perspective that informs his approach to leadership—empirical in understanding stakeholder needs, interventionist in building and testing new initiatives, and critical in reimagining possible futures for higher education.
In his current role at UNC, Bardzell has worked at the campus level to guide AI strategy during a period marked by technological disruption, workforce transformation, and heightened scrutiny of higher education’s return on investment. Building on both market and academic research, he proposed strategies to disseminate AI-related curricular content university-wide and to accelerate curriculum development aligned with state workforce needs.
As dean at UNC’s School of Information and Library Science, he led capacity-building reforms at the 95-year-old school, including redesigning faculty leadership structures, supporting the development of research clusters, implementing strategic hiring and mentoring plans, strengthening enrollment strategies from undergraduate gateway courses through the PhD, and rebuilding the school’s development pipeline.
In his previous positions at Penn State, where he served as associate dean for academic affairs and later for faculty and graduate affairs, Bardzell helped launch a bachelor of science in artificial intelligence, developed a faculty onboarding plan that earned a university-wide faculty development award, and implemented policies to strengthen graduate education operations.
At WPI, Bardzell plans to work with faculty to identify and support research clusters that address complex societal challenges such as sustainability and artificial intelligence, bringing together diverse disciplines and ways of knowing. He also emphasizes preparing students not simply for current job titles, but for the distinctly human capacities—creativity, empathy, communication, strategic thinking, and leadership—that will define success in an AI-driven future.
“As dean, I hope to raise the visibility of WPI’s stunning capacity for interdisciplinary innovation,” said Bardzell. “Interdisciplinarity in the school’s research and teaching culture creates an agility that will allow us not just to meet, but to get out ahead of, the societal needs of our times.”
Bardzell succeeds Jean King as the Peterson Family Dean of Arts and Science. King is currently the Philip R. and Paul S. Morgan Endowed Professor of Biology and Biotechnology at WPI.
