Pagán appointed vice provost for academic excellence and inclusion


Professor Eduardo Pagán has been appointed vice provost for academic excellence

Eduardo Pagán, Arizona State University’s Bob Stump Endowed Professor of History, has been appointed vice provost for academic excellence and inclusion.

Pagán is assuming the position now held by María Allison, who is going on leave at the end of the semester. Both Allison and Pagán will lead the office until that time.

In this post Pagán, associate professor in ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences School of Humanities, will facilitate excellence in all areas of the academic enterprise. This includes ensuring members of the faculty are recognized for their achievements both internally and externally, assisting deans in recruiting an excellent faculty, developing faculty development programs, and developing programs for administrators to ensure excellence in support for faculty and students.

“Dr. Pagán is an experienced administrator and established scholar with a deep commitment to excellence and inclusion,” said Elizabeth D. Phillips, ASU executive vice president and provost. “His experience leading an academic unit, as well as his previous position as assistant dean of students, make him uniquely positioned to work well with the entire ASU community to advance excellence.”

Pagán, an ASU alum, served as chair of the Department of Language, Cultures, and History, co-chair of Ethnic Studies, President of the West campus Faculty Senate, and as Chair of the Arizona Faculties Council. He has held an NEH Fellowship and was a postdoctoral fellow at Wesleyan University and at the University of California, San Diego.

Pagán is currently a co-host of "History Detectives" on PBS, and has worked previously with the award-winning PBS series "American Experience" as the lead historical consultant for the television episode and website titled "Zoot Suit Riot," based in part on his book "Murder at the Sleepy Lagoon: Zoot Suits, Race, and Riot in Wartime L.A."

“It’s a privilege both to take on this responsibility and to succeed María Allison," said Pagán. "I look forward to building on her work to advance the national profile of ASU’s faculty members and to foster our growth as a more inclusive community of learning for Arizona.”

He has served as a panelist for the Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Arizona Humanities Council, and he has served as a committee member for the Organization of American Historians.

Pagán is currently working on two book-length projects. The first is a reinterpretation of the Pleasant Valley War in territorial Arizona, and the second is a history of the Navajo struggle for full political participation in Arizona politics.

In addition to his numerous scholarly publications, Pagán also authored "Historic Photos of Phoenix," which won the Arizona Book Publishing Association's 2008 Glyph Award, and "Remembering Phoenix."

At ASU's West campus, he teaches classes including "Constitutional History of the U.S.," "The Hispanic Southwest," "Major Themes in the History of Native America," and methodology courses for American Studies and for History.

Before coming to ASU, Pagán served as an assistant dean of students at Princeton University, a faculty member at Williams College, and a senior program officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, D.C.

Pagán holds a doctoral and master's degree in history from Princeton University, a master's in history from the University of Arizona and a bachelor's in history from ASU.