Adrianna Kezar

Adrianna Kezar is Dean’s Professor of Leadership, Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of Higher Education, and Director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education at the University of Southern California (USC) Rossier School of Education. She also directs the Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student Success. Since joining USC in 2003, she has become a leading national voice on higher-education change, leadership, and the evolving academic workforce.

Education:

• Ph.D., Education, University of Michigan
• M.A., Education, University of Michigan
• B.A., Art History, University of California, Los Angeles

Research interests span higher-education leadership, organizational change, diversity/equity/inclusion, non-tenure-track faculty, STEM reform, collaboration, and governance. Her work is distinguished by its integration of theory with practice, extensive grant funding, and direct impact on policy and institutional strategy across hundreds of campuses.

Her scholarship is widely cited (29,000+ citations; H-index 80) and includes 26 books/monographs, 100+ refereed journal articles, and 100+ chapters & reports. Recent titles include Higher Education Leadership: Challenging Tradition and Forging Possibilities (2024) and Creating a Culture of Ecological Validation (2023).

Scientific awards and honors:

• AERA Fellow
• AERA Lifetime Research Achievement Award, Division J
• ASHE Research Award, ASHE Leadership Award, and Special Merit Award for Leading the Pullias Center
• ACE Leadership Award
• Service Award, National Society for Experiential Learning

Grants & advising: Kezar has secured over $24 million as PI and worked on projects totaling $37 million, including a landmark $6.2 million Buffett Foundation study on low-income student success. She currently leads two NSF projects and consults nationally on equity-minded leadership and faculty-survey development.

Laboratories & teams: She directs the Pullias Center for Higher Education and the Delphi Project on the Changing Faculty and Student Success, both of which serve as hubs for large-scale mixed-methods research, policy translation, and national convenings.