Francine Conway Named Chancellor of Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Francine Conway is the new chancellor of the flagship campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She has led Rutgers–New Brunswick under the hybrid title of “chancellor-provost” for the past two years. Dr. Conway will appoint a provost who will report to her with direct oversight of the institution’s academic side. The separation of responsibilities between chancellor and provost mirrors the leadership structures of Rutgers’ other campuses.

“Chancellor Conway’s work has highlighted the complexities of managing an institution that is a top 20 public university, a member of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, a world-class powerhouse of research and a proud home of diversity and opportunity,” said Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway in announcing what he called a promotion. “These realities have led Dr. Conway and me to recognize the need to once again separate the roles of chancellor and provost to ensure continual growth for all three components of our university mission: elevating the public good through excellence in education, research and service.”

“I am deeply grateful to President Holloway and to the Rutgers–New Brunswick community for entrusting me to lead our nexus of excellence in world-class education, research, service and diversity,” Dr. Conway said. “As chancellor, I will continue listening to our students, faculty, and staff, while leading us forward in the vision that we have established together in the Academic Master Plan. This is the place where excellence is earned, and where we proudly work for the benefit of our students, communities, and society.”

A native of Guyana, Dr. Conway earlier had served as dean of the Graduate School of Applied Psychology at Rutgers University. She was the first Black scholar to hold that position. Dr. Conway joined the faculty at Rutgers in 2016. From 2008 to 2016, she was chair of the psychology program at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. Her research is focused on the psychology of aging and on child psychopathology.

Dr. Conway is a graduate of Cornell University. She earned a master’s degree at Columbia University and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Adelphi University.