Dear CBS Community:
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Saara J. DeWalt as the next dean of the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences (CBS), effective August 31, 2023, and pending approval by the University’s Board of Regents at its July 2023 meeting.
Dr. DeWalt comes to the University from Clemson University, where she is a tenured professor and chair of biological sciences. As CBS dean, she will be the college’s chief executive and chief academic officer. She will provide collaborative leadership to maintain and enhance the college’s preeminence in education, research, and public engagement, reflecting its unique vitality and breadth spanning the full range of the biological sciences.
Dr. DeWalt brings to the University of Minnesota extensive experience as an academic leader, educator, and researcher. A faculty member at Clemson since 2005, she has served in varied leadership and service roles in graduate education, faculty development, and university-wide strategic planning. Appointed chair of biological sciences in 2019 following a national search, she leads one of Clemson’s largest academic departments, overseeing a broad portfolio of interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate educational programs, research, and outreach activities. The department leverages strengths in ecology, evolutionary biology, organismal biology, microbiology, molecular and cell biology, developmental biology, environmental toxicology, and plant biology.
At Clemson, Dr. DeWalt has expanded strategic resource development to support enrollment growth in biological sciences while intensifying research productivity. She has overseen focused hiring to attract top faculty in both research and teaching; strengthened advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion; and increased fundraising for scholarships and fellowships. She has worked successfully to strengthen collaborations across the university to advance interdisciplinary biomedical research and has increased engagement with industry and other external partners.
Dr. DeWalt led the collaborative development and implementation of a strategic plan for the biological sciences aligned with Clemson’s mission as an R1 public land-grant university. Outcomes have included enhancements to graduate curriculum, expanded undergraduate research and experiential learning opportunities, and enhanced faculty and staff development and support. Dr. DeWalt’s other accomplishments have included the establishment of a formal faculty mentoring program as well as expanded initiatives promoting biological literacy in the community and across the state of South Carolina, including activities leveraging the collections of Clemson’s Bob and Betsy Campbell Museum of Natural History.
Dr. DeWalt’s academic research as a plant ecologist is globally engaged and cuts across multiple biological sciences disciplines, using ecological and molecular genetic techniques to address a number of questions in population, evolutionary, and community ecology. Her most recent research and publications are focused on understanding plant invasions in temperate and tropical forests, dynamics of hurricane-affected forests in the Caribbean, and rates of biodiversity recovery in second-growth tropical forests. She is a past president of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. Dr. DeWalt holds a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in biological sciences with a minor in experimental statistics, as well as a B.A. in biology from Brown University. She spent two years as a Huxley Research Fellow at Rice University before joining the faculty at Clemson in 2005.
As dean of the UMN College of Biological Sciences, Dr. DeWalt will oversee the college’s research, teaching, and public engagement missions. As a senior academic leader reporting to the provost and a member of the Twin Cities Deans Council, she will also collaborate to implement strategic priorities aligned with the systemwide strategic plan MPact 2025 and play a collaborative leadership role in University academic affairs. Dr. DeWalt’s appointment as dean is the culmination of an open national search for a successor to Valery Forbes, who stepped down from the position last year.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Saara DeWalt to the University of Minnesota. I am confident that her experience and collaborative leadership will position the College well for the future, building on its unique configuration and exceptional strengths. I extend my appreciation to the search committee for its excellent work, with a special thanks to CFANS Dean Brian Buhr for serving as chair, and I thank the faculty, staff, students, and external partners and stakeholders who took time to provide invaluable feedback on our outstanding finalist candidates.
Sincerely yours,
Rachel T.A. Croson
Executive Vice President and Provost