Appointed: Dolan, Ponce De Leon

Monica Ponce de Leon

Adam Smith

Princeton ended the academic year with announcements of two new deans: Jill Dolan, the Annan Professor in English and professor of theater in the Lewis Center for the Arts, became dean of the college July 1, while Monica Ponce de Leon, dean of the architecture program at the University of Michigan, will lead Princeton’s architecture school. Her appointment takes effect Jan. 1. 

Dolan joined the faculty in 2008 and has led Princeton’s Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies since 2009. “I look forward to leading imaginative, forward-thinking discussions about our curriculum and our teaching practices, and to staging conversations among faculty, students, and staff to develop the most compelling ideas about how we might help students shape their lives,” Dolan said in a statement. President Eisgruber ’83 said she cares deeply about undergraduate education and brings people together to get things done. 

Dean of the Faculty Deborah Prentice, who led the search committee, said Dolan impressed the group with “her empathy, her emphasis on dialogue, and her conviction that every single student at Princeton should feel seen and heard.” Dolan succeeds Valerie Smith, who resigned to become president of Swarthmore College. 

Ponce de Leon, the first Hispanic architect to receive the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture, is well known as a leader in the application of robotic technology in building fabrication. She succeeds Professor Alejandro Zaera-Polo, who resigned as dean in 2014.