Tara Natarajan named provost and VP of academic affairs at Earlham College

Tara Natarajan has been selected to become Earlham College’s next provost and vice president of academic affairs.

Natarajan is currently the dean of the faculty at St. Michael’s College outside Burlington, Vermont. Her first day at Earlham will be Feb. 1, 2022.

“Tara has demonstrated a commitment to innovative leadership in the areas of academic excellence and student success throughout her career,” Earlham President Anne Houtman said. “As dean, she has been at the forefront of St. Michael’s DEI work in academic affairs along with oversight of grant acquisitions and COVID-era advances that have become essential in modern higher education.”

Natarajan began her career as an assistant professor of economics at St. Michael’s in 2001. She earned tenure in 2007 and chaired St. Michael’s economics department from 2016 to 2019.

At Earlham, Natarajan will become the first person of color to serve as an Earlham vice president for academic affairs, and its first international Cabinet member. She will be a member of one of the most diverse Cabinets in Earlham’s history, and the first that is majority women.

“It is an honor to join the Earlham College community,” Natarajan said. “Rigor, simplicity, values of eternal good and integrity are all parts of Earlham’s approach to integrative and collaborative learning. I am thrilled to become a part of this outstanding faculty and this extraordinary institution of higher education.”

She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 2001, her master’s in economics from the University of Bombay, India, and her bachelor’s from Sophia College in Bombay, India. Tara also spent time in an experiential program focused on global issues in Norway.