John Spiers, PhD, has joined the Biological Sciences Division as Assistant Dean and Senior Director of Academic Affairs, reporting to Dr. ‘Sola Olopade, the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Academic Affairs, and Bess Wildman, Vice Dean of Academic Administration and Finance.
In this role, Spiers will provide leadership to Office of Academic Affairs staff, supporting more than 1,600 tenure-track faculty, clinical scholars, clinical and research associates, instructors and lecturers across BSD units and working to build upon ongoing efforts to make the office more customer focused. He will guide department chairs and executive administrators through the academic review process and build systems to streamline processes that enhance recruitment of faculty and academic appointees as the BSD strives to grow in alignment with the strategic plan.
Spiers will also partner with the Office of Provost to execute academic affairs strategies that are in alignment with applicable laws and university policies. This includes advising department chairs, institute directors and other faculty leaders on faculty recruitment, appointment, promotion, development, and retention, in alignment with initiatives led by the Offices of Faculty Affairs and Diversity and Inclusion.
Spiers joins the University of Chicago from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he has been Director of Faculty Affairs for the Department of Medicine, focused on recruiting, retaining, and advancing the careers of faculty and trainees over the past eight years. He has worked closely with faculty and administrative leaders to develop policies and best practices, optimize processing of hospital and academic appointment and promotion requests, develop insightful data analyses, design, and refine systems, and provide comprehensive and personalized education and training resources. He has also played an important role in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, including goal setting, collation, and dissemination of best practices, tracking academic personnel diversity, developing events and programs, and enhancing the visibility of diverse faculty and trainees.
Earlier in his career, Spiers was an academic historian, earning a PhD in history from Boston College and publishing a book, Smarter Growth: Activism and Environmental Policy in Metropolitan Washington (Penn Press, 2018).
