In January, Provost John Buckwalter announced that Leslie Durham accepted the offer to be the next dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Boise State. Durham has led the college as interim dean since 2018.
Durham joined the Boise State faculty as an assistant professor in 2001 after earning her doctorate in theatre at the University of Kansas. She became an associate dean in 2012 and became founding director of the School of the Arts in 2018.
As professor, Durham wrote three books and nearly four dozen articles, reviews, and encyclopedia entries. The National Endowment for the Arts funds her current research and she has continued to work as a dramaturg and director when opportunities arise.
As interim dean, Durham stabilized the college’s financial position and made great strides in several key areas, including restructuring; programmatic innovation; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and advancement of research.
“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to continue to lead the College of Arts and Sciences. This is an outstanding community, and I feel inspired by the work of our students and my colleagues every single day. There is tremendous potential in our college, and I look forward to collaborating with partners across campus and beyond to realize this potential in exciting ways in the years to come,” Durham said.