BU Now

Dr. Jean Morrison, Provost, Boston University

Boston University President Dr. Robert A. Brown announced today that Dr. Jean Morrison, executive vice provost for academic affairs at the University of Southern California, has been named BU provost, effective January 2011. Morrison succeeds Provost David Campbell, who will return to teaching and to research projects he set aside more than five years ago when he was appointed provost.

“I am very excited to bring Jean Morrison to Boston University in this key academic leadership role,” said Brown. “She has the academic experience, skills, and vision to help the University continue on the path of increasing quality and impact.”

A member of the USC faculty since 1988, Morrison has guided the office of undergraduate programs, the USC Graduate School, and the office of continuing education and summer programs.

“I’m incredibly excited about the opportunity at Boston University,” said Morrison. “Large research universities have a kind of energy that’s unique, and BU’s a big place. That makes for some unique and creative possibilities. It’s one of the nation’s upcoming research universities, and it has outstanding faculty, which is the heart of a research university.”

As provost, Morrison serves as the chief academic officer, guiding the educational and budget policies for the university’s 14 schools and colleges that comprise the non-medical, dental and public health portion of Boston University. Over 27,000 students and nearly 2,300 faculty are represented on the Charles River Campus.

A professor of earth sciences, Morrison is a metamorphic petrologist whose research addresses how the earth's crust evolves over time. In particular, she studies the isotopic composition of rocks and minerals to understand the role that fluids play in fault systems. She served as an editor of the Journal of Metamorphic Geology and as an associate editor of the American Mineralogist and the Geological Society of America Bulletin. In 2000, she was named the Sigma Chi Professor of the Year and received Sigma Gamma Epsilon's Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2002, she received the prestigious USC Associates Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Morrison received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1988; her M.S. from the University of Georgia in 1983; and her B.A. from Colgate University in 1980.