Dean of the College Shirley Collado

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Shirley M. Collado, dean of the college at Middlebury and a national leader within higher education on issues of student and faculty access and diversity, has been named executive vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and executive vice provost at Rutgers University – Newark. The university announced the news today. Collado will begin her new position in January 2015 and will continue in her current role at Middlebury College until then.

“Shirley is one of the nation’s thought leaders in building an understanding of how to leverage the social and intellectual value of diversity, from both the student and institutional perspectives,” Rutgers University – Newark Chancellor Nancy Cantor said in announcing Collado’s appointment.  “These are critically important goals and integrating them into everything we do at Rutgers University – Newark will be among the highest priorities we have into the foreseeable future.”

Rutgers University – Newark is one of three main campuses of the New Jersey state Rutgers University system. The campus has eight degree-granting undergraduate, graduate and professional schools and enrolls more than 7,600 undergraduate students and 4,300 graduate students. 

“This opportunity is an extraordinary one to help shape the future of an institution that makes a life-changing impact on thousands of promising students each year,” said Collado, a native of New York City. “In a way, I am returning home. But I will do so with the incredible experience of having been part of the Middlebury leadership and community. I will treasure that always.”

From the time she first arrived at Middlebury in 2007, Collado has played a driving role in the College’s efforts to create initiatives that build closer links between academic programs, residential life and innovative student experiences outside the classroom. She has been a champion for Programs on Creativity and Innovation, the Center for Social Entrepreneurship, MiddCORE, and the Center for Careers and Internships. She led the vision for the new student orientation program MiddView, worked to strengthen the Commons system, and helped develop the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity.

Since she was appointed dean of the college in 2010, Collado has been a visible and supportive presence for Middlebury students during their undergraduate years. Always approachable and always mindful of the needs, concerns and unique perspective of undergraduates, she is at once a passionate advocate and a firm counselor.

Recently, Collado, who has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Duke University, played a leading role in securing a three-year grant of $4.7 million from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to establish the Creating Connections Consortium (C3), a program that is building interaction among leading liberal arts colleges and research universities with a goal of strengthening student and faculty diversity and creating opportunities for innovation.

“Shirley has contributed to the life of the College in innumerable ways,” said Middlebury President Ronald D. Liebowitz. “She has made Middlebury not only a more diverse and engaging place, but one that profoundly appreciates the value that greater diversity brings to the institution. Her focus on the experience of our students is unwavering and we – and our students – are better for it.”