Nancy E. Johnson
Interim Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Interim Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Nancy E. Johnson was appointed interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the largest academic unit at SUNY New Paltz, effective July 18, 2025.
As interim dean, Johnson oversees 19 departments and programs that collectively offer undergraduate majors, interdisciplinary minors and graduate degree programs to thousands of New Paltz students each year. Liberal Arts & Sciences courses also form the core of the campus-wide General Education program, which helps ensure that every New Paltz student, regardless of major, has an opportunity to develop the critical thinking and communication skills that are critical to success in any field.
Johnson brings a breadth of experience as a scholar, educator and higher education administrator to this leadership role. Since joining New Paltz’s Department of English in 1998, she has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in English literature and literary theory while also holding positions of increasing responsibility in the Department, with more than a decade of service as deputy chair and, later, as chair. She earned continuing appointment in 2004 and promotion to full professor in 2016. In 2017, Johnson assumed the role of associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
She is the author, co-author or editor of seven books, and has published numerous peer-reviewed articles, chapters, introductions and encyclopedia entries. Many of Johnson’s publications draw from her expertise in English literature and theory from the 18th and 19th centuries. She is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities Scholarly Editions and Translations Grant and has received appointments as a Senior Warnock Fellow for the Yale Boswell Editions, among other professional accolades. In 2010 she was awarded the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Nancy E. Johnson holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from McGill University. She earned her Master of Arts from Boston College and her Bachelor of Arts from Boston University.
