Class of 2026-27 Senior Administrative Fellows announced

LAWRENCE — Ten faculty members have been selected to join the Senior Administrative Fellows cohort for the 2026-27 academic year. The signature KU program dates back to 1993. Through the program, fellows learn more about KU and administrative roles, engage in self-reflection and assessment of their own leadership styles and preferences, and consider possible leadership pathways in academia.   

The 2026-27 Senior Administrative Fellows cohort: 

• Juliana Carlson, associate dean for research and professor of social welfare 
• Patrick Downes, associate professor of management 
• Arpita Ghosh, associate professor of counseling psychology 
• Melissa Grady, associate dean for student affairs and associate professor of music education 
• Justin Hutchison, associate professor of civil, environmental & architectural engineering 
• Adi Masli, associate dean of graduate programs and professor of accounting 
• Mikhail Medvedev, professor of physics & astronomy 
• Hannah Park, associate professor of visual communication design 
• Raúl Rojas, chair and professor of speech-language-hearing 
• Zijun Wang, director of graduate studies and associate professor of pharmacology & toxicology.  

The Senior Administrative Fellows program is led by Mary Banwart, associate vice provost for faculty development, mentoring and growth. Each class of fellows is selected from applications and nominations solicited in the spring semester of the previous academic year. 

“Senior Administrative Fellows is designed to help us meet our mission of growing faculty leadership in the development of an exceptional learning community,” Banwart said. “By hearing from administrators, developing their leadership skills and capacities, and networking and developing connections across the university, SAFs prepares our faculty leaders to make a meaningful impact in their departments, units and across KU.”  

Claudia Dozier, professor and chair of applied behavioral science and recent senior administrative fellow, said that through the program, she learned a great deal not only from university leadership, but also from those within her SAFs cohort. 

“I would encourage faculty to apply even if they aren’t sure they want to pursue administration,” Dozier said. “Go into SAFs curious. Ask questions, take advantage of the access you have to university leaders and get to know the people in your cohort. You will learn an enormous amount about KU, but you will also learn a great deal about yourself and the kind of colleague and leader you want to be.” 

Many participants of the Senior Administrative Fellows Program have gone on to lead programs at KU and elsewhere. Several current and former presidents/chancellors, provosts, vice provosts, deans, associate deans, interim deans, chairs and directors at KU have participated in the program. More information on this year’s participants is available online.  

 Applications for the 2027-28 cycle will open in early spring.