Chaevia Clendinen, PhD, has been named Administrative Dean of Students for the Biological Sciences Division, effective May 5, 2025. In this newly created role for the BSD, Clendinen will be the single point person for all administrative aspects of non-medical school, graduate student-related matters, which includes PhD students, Master’s students, and MD/PhD students during the PhD portion of their program.
Clendinen joins the BSD from the UChicago Division of Social Sciences (SSD), where she has been working in leadership roles since 2018, most recently as Associate Dean of Students, Advancement and Student Services. During her time at SSD, she worked closely with their Dean of Students to manage and evaluate graduate student programs, create career development and networking programs, implement new procedures regarding the Graduate Student Union contract, and form partnerships with other institutions—including Spelman College and Chicago State University.
Prior to coming to UChicago, Clendinen was an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation. She holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, where she also worked in graduate and research administrative roles.
As Administrative Dean of Students, Clendinen will provide leadership and strategic direction for a broad range of services and programs to enrich the overall student experience, and to support students across the BSD in their academic, career, and personal development. She will report directly to Bess Wildman, Vice Dean of Academic Administration and Finance, as part of the BSD leadership team. She will also work closely with David Kovar, PhD, Associate Dean of Basic Science, Graduate Education, and other faculty and educational leaders to create improved oversight, training, policies, guidelines, standard processes, and infrastructure to make sure all BSD students receive a consistent experience that reflects the University’s core values.
