Dean of Students Liz Braun announced today that Amer Ahmed will join Swarthmore College on July 2nd as the new dean of the sophomore class and director of the Intercultural Center (IC). Ahmed is currently associate director of the Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs (MESA) and Trotter Multicultural Center at the University of Michigan.

"Amer brings a wealth of experience and knowledge related to student development and support in the context of cultural centers," Braun says. "He is known for his warmth, his enthusiasm, and is universally described as someone deeply committed to student learning and growth, building inclusive environments, and building collaborative partnerships with students, faculty, and staff."

"I am very excited to have Amer join us at Swarthmore," says Uriel Espino '16, a member of the search committee. "I believe Amer will successfully navigate through this joint role position and advance the IC's goals of creating coalition and increasing our presence throughout campus. It is very clear his values align with that of the IC, including his emphasis on student mentorship."

Ahmed has served as the associate director of MESA and Trotter Multicultural Center at the University of Michigan since 2007. In this position, he provides support for diversity programming initiatives, student advising, supervises professional staff within the MESA office, manages the budget, and develops assessment and long range strategic planning for MESA. Ahmed has also served as an associate faculty member for the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication since 2010 and has worked as an intercultural diversity consultant for a range of colleges and universities since 2005. He served as the director of Intercultural Affairs at Concordia College (2005-2007); the director of Intercultural Programs at Loras College (2003-2005); and was an associate instructor in Afro-American Studies at Indiana University. He is also the Board of Directors Co-Chair for the Hip Hop Congress.

Ahmed received his B.A. in anthropology and Black World Studies from Miami University; his M.A. in Afro-American and African Diaspora studies, anthropology from Indiana University; and is currently pursuing his Ed.D. in adult and higher education from the University of South Dakota, where his dissertation focuses on the oral tradition as a critical liberatory praxis in Islamic Black America.

"I am truly humbled by the opportunity to join this unique and vibrant community that balances academic excellence with holistic development grounded in a commitment to social responsibility," Ahmed says. "I look forward to engaging faculty, staff, and students in order to learn as much as possible from the Swarthmore community and discover how my background and experiences can best benefit this fine institution of higher learning."