Susan E. Alcock appointed UM-Dearborn provost

Susan E. Alcock has been named University of Michigan-Dearborn's next provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, effective Jan. 1, 2020.

“Sue has a long and distinguished career in the academy having held numerous administrative and academic roles. She is a world-acclaimed scholar and teacher who will bring great insight, perspective and industry to our senior leadership team,” Chancellor Domenico Grasso said. “Sue has served at some of the best universities in the world. Her experiences at Brown University, and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor and Flint), have prepared her to immediately step into this position and make a significant impact on our campus.”

Since 2018, Alcock has been UM-Flint’s interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. Prior to that, she served in U-M's Office of the President as special counsel for institutional outreach and engagement, and as a Presidential Bicentennial Professor.

“I am happy and honored to be joining the team at UM-Dearborn at what is clearly an exciting and energizing time in its 60-year (and counting) history,” Alcock said. “I look forward to meeting people, learning lots and getting going.”

Alcock is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and professor of classical archaeology and classics in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, at U-M. Most notably, she is a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship often called a “genius grant.” Alcock will be the first MacArthur Fellow on the Dearborn campus.

“During the last year and half, Sue has made important contributions to academic affairs at UM-Flint,” said UM-Flint Chancellor Debasish Dutta. “Not only did she provide leadership on academic programs, policy and Provost Office restructuring, she also oversaw the accreditation process by leading the Provost Office team. Sue is well positioned to lead academic affairs at UM-Dearborn and we look forward to strengthening our intercampus collaboration as she takes on her new responsibilities.” 

After teaching at the University of Reading, Alcock began her U-M career in 1992, culminating in her position as a curator in the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, and the John H. D’Arms Collegiate Professor of Classical Archaeology and Classics.

In 2006, Alcock moved to Brown University where she served as Joukowsky Family Professor of Archaeology and director of the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World. During this time, she also served as deputy and interim vice president for research at Brown. She returned to U-M in 2015.

In addition to the MacArthur Fellowship, Alcock has received numerous honors and awards including the visiting fellow from Princeton University, the Spiro Kostof Award from the Society of Architectural Historians and the Henry Russel Award at U-M. She has also lectured at the British Academy, among many other venues. Alcock has published 13 books and more than 50 articles and has been cited thousands of times.

Alcock completed her Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude at Yale University and received a second bachelor’s degree from the University of Cambridge, where she also received a Master of Arts and Ph.D.