Job Announcement: Dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) invites inquiries, nominations and applications for the position of dean of the School of Theater, Film and Television (TFT). UCLA is the only university in the country to offer the study of theater, film, television and digital media integrated within a single school, reaping the strengths that come from artistic convergence and the crossing of media boundaries. One of UCLA’s 12 professional schools, TFT benefits from unique synergies within UCLA as well as its location within the dynamic city of Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world. The school’s talented faculty and alumni have won Oscars, Emmys, Tonys and numerous other artistic accolades in the performing arts.

TFT includes the Department of Theater and the Department of Film, Television and Digital Media, and also houses the Ralph Freud Playhouse; the Little Theater; the James Bridges Theater; the Darren Star Screening Room; the David C. Copley Center for the Study of Costume Design; the Skoll Center for Social Impact Entertainment; the Center for Performance Studies; the Digital Incubator and Think Tank; and the Center for Research in Engineering, Media and Performance (REMAP), a joint effort with the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. The school has approximately 200 faculty (both tenure track and adjunct), 150 staff, and approximately 700 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in B.A., M.A., M.F.A. and Ph.D. programs.

As the chief executive and academic officer for the school, the dean provides strategic vision for and operational leadership of the school, which has an annual operating budget of approximately $36 million. The dean works to advance scholarship, creative and artistic accomplishment, education and civic engagement; encourage distinctive programmatic innovation; enhance excellence through diversity in educational programs and faculty and student recruitment; and link the work of the school’s faculty and students to other disciplines, communities and interests within and outside of the academy. Supporting the university’s research mission, the dean will advance the faculty’s scholarly activities, including opportunities afforded by interdisciplinary approaches. The dean serves as the school’s public voice, articulating its contributions to local, state, regional, national and international communities, and pursuing an aggressive development program to build the school’s resources. Reporting to the executive vice chancellor and provost, the dean serves on the deans’ council, the council of professional school deans and the chancellor’s council on the arts, and collaborates with leadership across UCLA and the UC system as well as local, national and international leaders in the entertainment industry and the performing arts.

We seek a visionary leader to build upon TFT’s tradition of inclusive excellence and advance the school to a new level. Ideal candidates will be nationally and/or internationally recognized for scholarly and/or professional achievement, with demonstrated leadership and administrative experience in a creative environment and in academia, and a strong commitment to education and scholarship. Minimum requirements include a record of distinguished scholarly accomplishment and/or comparable achievements in film, television, theater or digital media; significant organizational leadership and administrative responsibility; demonstrated success in external relations and fundraising, particularly with alumni; an established record of advancing diversity, equity and inclusion; and credentials that merit appointment at the rank of full professor.

With its 419-acre campus in Westwood, and recent site acquisitions in Downtown L.A., South Bay and Westside, UCLA is enriched by the cultural diversity of the dynamic greater Los Angeles area, as well as the geographic advantages of Southern California. One of the world’s preeminent public research universities, UCLA is an international leader in breadth and quality of academic, research, health care, wellness, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs, with more than 5,500 faculty members who teach approximately 47,800 students in the UCLA College and 12 professional schools. UCLA is consistently ranked among the top institutions nationally for research funding, having generated nearly $1.7 billion in research grants and contracts in the last fiscal year alone.

Confidential review of applications, nominations and expressions of interest will begin immediately and will continue until an appointment is made. Address nominations, inquiries and applications to our Isaacson, Miller consultants David Bellshaw and Rafael Escobedo via the Isaacson, Miller website. To be ensured full consideration, please submit a letter of interest, diversity statement and curriculum vitae by November 25, 2024.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy.