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Graduate School Welcomes New Dean

On July 1, 2012, Paula D. McClain became the fourteenth dean of the Duke University Graduate School and vice provost for graduate education.

Dean McClain has been a member of the Duke political science faculty since 2000, also holding an appointment in the Sanford School of Public Policy. Her service to Duke includes chairing the Academic Council from 2007-09 as well as serving on a number of other university committees. In addition to those roles, she directs the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute, an intensive five-week program at Duke that trains minority students from across the country to pursue doctoral degrees and careers in political science. She also co-directs Duke’s Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Gender in the Social Sciences. Professor McClain’s primary research interests are in racial minority group politics, particularly inter-minority political and social competition, and urban politics, especially public policy and urban crime.

Dean McClain has previously partnered with the Graduate School on numerous occasions, participating in the orientation for new students and serving on graduate fellowship committees. In recognition of her commitment to graduate students, Dean McClain received the 2011 Graduate School’s Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring. Her commitment to graduate education is well known at Duke, and we look forward to sharing her vision and accomplishments in upcoming issues of the newsletter.