Leslie Durham

Leslie Durham, Ph.D., is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Boise State University, where she has also served as Associate Dean, Director of the School of the Arts and as a faculty member in Theatre, Film and Creative Writing. She is in her seventh year leading Boise State’s largest and most diverse academic college, which includes 21 departments spanning the arts, humanities, social and natural sciences. Arts and Sciences is the academic home of 216 part-time faculty, 224 full-time staff and 378 full-time faculty, who serve 5,345 undergraduate students and 345 graduate students while also delivering 84% of the university’s general education curriculum. The college has a thriving research portfolio leading to more than $26M in expenditures last year and is grateful for strong philanthropic support, which totaled $8.8M last year.

Under Dr. Durham’s leadership, the College of Arts and Sciences has launched a variety of innovative initiatives including the School of the Arts, the School of the Environment and the School for the Digital Future; the COAS Innovation Lab, which has awarded approximately $500K to faculty within the college; Bronco Gap Year, a program that supported student learning during the pandemic; and interdisciplinary degree programs including Film and Television Arts, Environmental Science, Neuroscience and Project Management.

She serves on the Planning Advisory Committee for Budget Modernization, the University Council on Tribal Initiatives, the Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee for Shared Governance, the Deans’ Council and the University Administrative Council.

Dr. Durham remains active as a scholar, and her current work is funded through the National Endowment for the Arts Research Labs program.