I am pleased to share that Matthew Guterl, L. Herbert Ballou University Professor of Africana Studies and American Studies at Brown, has accepted my offer to become the University's next Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, effective March 1, 2025. As before, this full-time position will report directly to me, serve as a member of the President’s Cabinet, and work closely with the Corporation of Brown University on matters related to diversity and inclusion.

Matt’s appointment reflects our continued commitment to diversity and inclusion at Brown as grounded in and central to our academic mission of advancing knowledge and discovery in a spirit of free inquiry. As a leading research institution dedicated to strong student-centered education, Brown continues to recognize the critical importance of bringing diverse perspectives, knowledge and experiences to confront and solve the most complex challenges of the 21st century. We also remain committed to ensuring that all members of the Brown community, no matter their backgrounds or viewpoints, can thrive and contribute to our mission to be in service to the nation and the world.  

On all these fronts, Matt’s partnerships with Brown community members across campus and beyond will be vitally important as we continue to advance our diversity and inclusion work in compliance with the law. At the same time, we are taking the opportunity of this transition to align the name of the office with its current operations. Previously, the office was responsible for managing matters related to the University’s compliance with federal equity mandates. Those functions moved to the Office of Equity Compliance and Reporting (OECR) in February 2024. With the start of Matt's appointment in March, the formerly named Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED) will be called the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), reflecting its current operations more accurately, including a focus on sustaining a thriving, diverse community where all community members feel welcome in our residence halls, classrooms, workspaces, green spaces and laboratories. ODI will also continue to work in close collaboration with OECR to ensure a learning and working environment free of discrimination and harassment. 

Advancing Academic Excellence

As I shared in September, the search for a new Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion focused on identifying a senior Brown faculty member who comes from within Brown’s community. A search committee composed of faculty, staff and students, which I chaired, focused on candidates who bring the intellectual leadership, scholarly experience and capacity to build on existing connections to members of the Brown community that will allow us to advance our academic mission. Matt was selected from a highly competitive pool as an exceptional choice to lead the evolution of diversity and inclusion efforts at the University. 

Since launching Pathways to Diversity and Inclusion: An Action Plan for Brown University (now known as the Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, or DIAP) in 2016, Brown has made significant investments advancing diversity and inclusion in pursuit of academic excellence. Now, as we enter our 10th year of focused efforts, Matt will be charged as Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion with working collaboratively with stakeholders from across the University — faculty, staff and students — to develop and implement a vision and strategy for the next decade. He is a thoughtful leader who brings the depth of experience needed to steward this effort across Brown’s academic and administrative operations. 

Upon arriving at Brown in 2012, Matt was tasked as the incoming chair of American Studies to build the academic strength of the department. During his nine-year tenure as chair, he established a strong track record of advancing academic excellence, diversity and inclusion via mentoring and recruiting faculty and staff, navigating the delicate dynamics of classroom climate, and building community across programs and departments, centers and institutes. In Matt, we have a leader who believes, as I do, that universities are at their best when their community members bring widely diverse experiences and perspectives to campus and engage with each other in an atmosphere of mutual respect and collaboration. 

From the spring of 2016 through the summer of 2022, Matt served as the faculty co-chair of the University’s Diversity and Inclusion Oversight Board (DIOB), which is the body of students, faculty and staff charged with oversight of the DIAP.  He worked with Brown's two prior vice presidents charged with stewarding diversity and inclusion, along with staff, medical and graduate students, undergraduates in every concentration and division, and faculty from the sciences to the humanities. 

Previously, as a faculty member at Indiana University from 2003 to 2012, Matt spearheaded the creation of that institution's department of American Studies. This included hiring eight new faculty members over four years, launching new undergraduate and graduate degree programs, and brokering productive relationships with the existing African American Studies department, the university's Latino Studies program and an emerging Asian American Studies program. Matt has prior appointments as faculty at Washington State University, where he served as Assistant Professor of Comparative Ethnic Studies, and St. John's University, where he held the rank of Lecturer in the Department of History.

Matt holds a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Rutgers University and earned a bachelor's degree with high honors in history from Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. He has an extensive record of academic publishing, including authoring and co-authoring monographs, book chapters and journal articles on subjects including the histories of civil and human rights, race relations and anti-imperialism. He also authored a memoir, “Skinfolk,” published with Liveright Press in 2023, detailing his experiences growing up in an international, multiracial family during the Cold War. He has earned numerous awards for his academic scholarship, teaching and program-building, including a Guggenheim award last year.

I want to express my immense gratitude to Dr. Patricia Poitevien, M.D., senior associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion for the Division of Biology and Medicine, for serving as interim vice president while we conducted the search for our permanent leader of diversity and inclusion. I also am grateful to the search committee and all the other members of our community who participated in this search.

In addition, I want to thank all the partners across Brown who will work with Matt on developing and implementing Brown’s vision for the future. Please join me in welcoming him to his new role. 

Sincerely,