Fordham has announced the appointment of Dr. Jessica Lang as the inaugural dean of Arts and Sciences, effective July 1, 2025. Dr. Lang currently serves as dean of the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences at Baruch College, a premier senior college within the City University of New York (CUNY) system.
For the past four-and-a-half years, Dean Lang has strengthened the liberal arts, launched new majors and graduate programs, expanded experiential learning opportunities for students, and designed innovative program collaborations between the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, and Baruch’s two other schools, the Zicklin School of Business, and the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs.
Dr. Lang has introduced a number of initiatives to support faculty research, teaching, and professional development, including a mentorship program for faculty and department chairs. She has a strong record of attracting and retaining highly sought-after faculty pursuing scholarship in many disciplines across the natural and social sciences, humanities, and fine arts. Dr. Lang has worked with departments, faculty, and staff to elevate the importance of using inclusive pedagogies and supporting student success at Baruch, where the majority of students come from communities of color, receive federal financial aid, and are first-generation college attendees.
Dr. Lang is a champion for the liberal arts, embodies the ideals of Jesuit education, and is a highly effective fundraiser. She is eager to work collaboratively with Fordham’s faculty, students, and staff to advance the mission of Arts and Sciences for the 21st century.
Dr. Lang earned a Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Brandeis University and holds an M.A. from Washington University in St. Louis and a B.A. from Cornell University. An interdisciplinary scholar of early American fiction and Jewish American and Holocaust literature, she served as a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University before joining the Baruch faculty in 2004. Prior to her appointment as dean of the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Lang served as chair of the English department and was the founding director of the Wasserman Jewish Studies Center at Baruch.
Dr. Lang is joining Fordham at a pivotal moment, as the University implements a new leadership structure and a more coordinated approach for the Arts and Sciences, the institution’s largest academic unit. Arts and Sciences comprises Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC), Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH), the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), 20 academic departments, and 19 interdisciplinary programs across two campuses, with approximately 357 tenure-stream faculty; 120 full-time, non-tenure-track faculty; 594 adjunct faculty; and 7,520 students. Fordham’s inaugural dean of Arts and Sciences will have authority, budgetary control, and oversight for all undergraduate and graduate academic programs, faculty matters, and campus-based initiatives in the arts and sciences. She will be supported by an experienced team of vice deans, associate deans, assistant deans, and directors.
