Dean Kimberly Jacob Arriola reappointed to lead Laney Graduate School

At a time of significant change and uncertainty for graduate education nationally, Kimberly Jacob Arriola has provided steady, student-centered leadership for Emory’s James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies.

Following her recent reappointment as dean of the Laney Graduate School and vice provost for graduate affairs, Arriola is looking ahead to the next phase of work: advancing student flourishing, strengthening graduate education across campus, and ensuring that graduate students and graduate faculty remain central to Emory’s research and teaching missions.

“Graduate students and faculty drive how Emory addresses some of the most pressing questions of our time across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences,” says Arriola. “Our responsibility is to make sure they have the foundation, community and resources they need to do that work well.”

Since becoming dean in 2021, Arriola has guided the Laney Graduate School through the development of a strategic framework shaped by input from faculty, staff, students and alumni. That framework helped focus the school’s work on graduate student flourishing, philanthropy and the growth of master’s education. It also supported new investments in grant writing resources and programs such as the Mentoring Fellows initiative.

In her next term, her efforts will build on the established foundation while responding to the changing landscape for graduate education and the evolving needs of students, faculty and programs across Emory. While Arriola plans to continue current initiatives, she is now working to expand opportunities for experiential learning and for students across campus to engage in interdisciplinary research.

“Jim Laney’s legacy lives on in the graduate faculty, students, staff and alumni of the Laney Graduate School. It is most humbling to be entrusted to lead at a moment of such great consequence,” Arriola says.

Her leadership has come during a challenging time for graduate education, a time marked by uncertainty in the federal research funding landscape, changing federal policies related to immigration, and increased financial pressure on students. In that context, she has focused on providing steady leadership while helping the Laney Graduate School adapt, plan and continue investing in the graduate student experience.

“Graduate education is changing quickly, and that requires us to be both thoughtful and responsive,” Arriola says. “At Laney, we have focused on listening to our community, planning with intention and continuing to invest in the people and programs that make graduate education strong.”

Arriola’s tenure has also included renewed investment in the master’s student experience. As demand for graduate education continues to evolve, Laney has worked to strengthen master’s programs and support students pursuing advanced training across a range of fields. 

Graduate education is changing quickly, and that requires us to be both thoughtful and responsive. At Laney, we have focused on listening to our community, planning with intention and continuing to invest in the people and programs that make graduate education strong.

Dean Kimberly Jacob Arriola

Her focus on master’s education is also reflected in the development of new programs that respond to emerging fields and workforce needs. The new master’s program in economics and artificial intelligence is one example of how Laney, in close collaboration with the Emory College of Arts and Sciences, is helping students build advanced skills at the intersection of data, technology and human decision-making. By providing rigorous graduate training within areas of growing demand, the program is designed to help Emory master’s students remain competitive in a changing professional landscape.

As vice provost for graduate affairs, Arriola also plays a campus-wide role in elevating graduate and professional education at Emory. Her role helps provide a unified voice for graduate and professional students across the university and ensures that graduate and professional education is represented in high-level decision-making.

That campus-wide perspective matters because graduate education reaches across Emory’s schools and disciplines. Through her role, Arriola works closely with faculty, administrators, student leaders and university partners to strengthen the systems that support graduate and professional training.

Her perspective as dean is also shaped by her continued identity as a faculty member. She remains active in the Rollins School of Public Health, where her NIH-funded work continues to connect her to faculty life, research and graduate training. She often talks about how she “grew up” at Rollins, having arrived there as an MPH student 28 years ago after completing her doctorate in social psychology from Northeastern University. She earned her MPH in epidemiology from Rollins in 2001.

Arriola credits the work of a strong team of collaborators for making the work possible. Partnerships with colleagues in the Office of the Provost, deans across the collaborating schools and beyond have helped support her ability to maintain a strong focus on consistent advocacy for graduate and professional education.

As she begins this next chapter, Arriola’s priorities remain focused on student flourishing, strategic growth, mentoring, philanthropy and advocacy for graduate and professional education across Emory. Her reappointment offers an opportunity to continue the work of strengthening Laney’s role as a central part of the university’s academic mission.

“In Kim Arriola you will not find a more ardent supporter of graduate students or graduate education,” says Badia Ahad, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “As dean of Laney Graduate School, she continues the legacy of President James T. Laney: a belief in the transformative power of education and the conviction that what we know should ultimately shape how we serve. From her own time as an Emory graduate student, Kim understands both the enormous promise of the graduate school experience and the very real demands it can place on students. I am incredibly grateful that she will continue leading Laney and creating the conditions that allow students to do ambitious work while building lives and careers of meaning.”