Dr. Hollis Robbins has resigned as dean of the College of Humanities, after spending two and a half years in the role. She will return to her tenured position in the Department of English. 

Robbins began her work as the dean in July 2022, when she told The Daily Utah Chronicle, “My role is to inspire and lead all of these faculty members who are doing really extraordinary work, [along with] staff and students, to ask, ‘How can we work best together?’”

In an email statement to The Chronicle, Robbins said she is excited to serve as the Special Advisor for Humanities Diplomacy and wants to focus more on artificial intelligence’s impact on higher education.

“We are living in an age of dramatic technological change with AI, and this change will have an impact on how we teach, research, archive information and create new knowledge,” she said. “The relationship of humans to AI is the pressing question for the humanities, and I felt I could best support my humanities colleagues by focusing deeply on these questions. The college is in good hands!”

Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Mitzi Montoya shared a statement today with faculty and staff in the College of Humanities about her resignation. Montoya said she accepted the resignation last Friday and is working on finding a new dean for the college. 

“Leadership change can be disruptive,” Montoya said in the statement. “I will work closely with the dean’s staff and department chairs to ensure open, clear and timely communication as we move forward in the search for a new dean.”

Montoya said she was grateful for Robbins’ service as dean.

“I thank Dean Robbins for her commitment to humanities students, faculty and staff; the university; and our shared values and mission,” she said.

In her short time as the dean, Robbins established courses and rebuilt programs such as the Great Books course and the Middle East Center.

Montoya said Wanda Pillow, a professor and current associate dean for academic affairs, will serve as acting dean of humanities through the end of the academic year. She praised Pillow as a “noted scholar” of feminist research methods, women of color feminisms and educational policy. 

“I appreciate her stepping into this position during an important time in the university’s history,” Montoya added.

Stuart Culver, former dean of the College of Humanities, has agreed to serve as a senior advisor to the incoming dean and provost, according to the statement.

A meeting with the College of Humanities faculty and staff is planned for later this week to discuss the transition and future plans.

Vanessa Hudson contributed to the reporting of this article.

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