Jeffrey Bardzell is Peterson Family Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he provides leadership in higher education strategy, liberal arts in polytechnic contexts, and AI in teaching and learning. Internationally recognized for his interdisciplinary scholarship, Bardzell was originally trained in comparative literature and philosophy and subsequently transitioned to informatics, human-computer interaction, and design research. Before joining WPI, Bardzell served as both dean and vice provost at the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, with a portfolio that bridged institutional planning, research-driven academic strategy, and curriculum-wide AI implementation. Bardzell is also an active writer and public scholar, maintaining a Substack that explores higher education leadership, AI in academia, and the future of liberal arts education.