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Dr. Ann Stevens is the provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. As the chief academic officer, she leads the university’s academic mission, overseeing all elements of research, teaching, and the student and faculty experience at the university. She oversees the recruitment, development, and promotion of faculty, deans, and other academic leaders, and coordinates academic planning with budget preparation and capital development needs. She works collaboratively with the deans, faculty, staff, and students in the exercise of shared governance for the ������ý���� campus. Her appointment as provost began in July 2025.

Her research interests include the incidence and long-term effects of job loss, connections between economic shocks and health, and poverty and safety-net dynamics. Stevens’ research has been supported by numerous grants from foundations and federal agencies and is widely cited, placing her in the top 4% of economists worldwide.��

From 2019 to 2025, Stevens served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and professor of economics at the University of Texas at Austin where she held the David Bruton, Jr. Regents Chair in Liberal Arts and led a team of faculty and staff that grew sponsored research funding in the college by 50% in five years. In the undergraduate area, Stevens expanded career services and research opportunities for students and oversaw significant growth in undergraduate enrollment.

From 2003 to 2019, Stevens was a professor of economics at the University of California Davis where she also was the founding director of the Center for Poverty Research, Chair of the Department of Economics, and Interim Dean of the Graduate School of Management.

Stevens received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan and her undergraduate degree in economics and political science from American University.��

Dr. June Gruber is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the ������ý����, where she directs the Positive Emotion and Psychopathology Lab. Previously, she served as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Yale University and earned her Ph.D. and B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Gruber’s research explores the complexities of positive emotions and their role in psychological disorders and well-being. Her lab adopts a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach—spanning behavioral, experiential, psychophysiological, and neurocognitive methodologies—to study how positive emotions intersect with mental health. By studying populations ranging from healthy to at-risk and mood-disordered adults and adolescents, her work aims to inform cutting-edge models and treatments to enhance emotional well-being and sustainable happiness.

She has authored over 140 articles and chapters, co-authored psychology textbooks, and edited volumes such as the Oxford Handbook of Positive Emotion and Psychopathology and Positive Emotion: Integrating the Light Sides and Dark Sides. Her contributions to the field have been recognized by the Association for Psychological Science’s Rising Star Award and Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions, the Society for Research in Psychopathology’s Early Career Award, Yale University’s Arthur Greer Memorial Prize for Outstanding Junior Faculty, among others. Dr. Gruber is a champion of communicating and sharing psychological science and is the current Editor-in-Chief at Current Directions in Psychological Science.

Equally passionate about teaching and mentorship, she has developed accessible educational resources, such as a free Coursera course #TalkMentalIllness, the Experts in Emotion Interview Series at Yale University, and a column for young scientists in Science Careers. Her dedication to education has been recognized by the President's Teaching Scholar Award, Cogswell Award for Inspirational Instruction, ������ý���� Faculty Assembly Excellence in Teaching and Pedagogy Award, and UROP Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award.

Outside the lab, she finds joy and awe spending time with her family in the mountains—including her two sons, Ansel and Silvan, as well as her adopted shelter dogs, Buddy and Eddy, and a mountain cat named Junior.

Join us for lunch, awards and a conversation with Noah Finkelstein and Dr. Phoebe S. K. Young

Noah Finkelstein��is a Professor of Physics at the ������ý����. He serves as a PI of the Physics Education Research (PER) group and was a founding co-Director Center for STEM Learning, which has served as one of eight national demonstration sites for the Association of American Universities’ (AAU) STEM Education Initiative. He co-directs the national Network of STEM Education Centers.

Finkelstein’s research focuses on studying the conditions that support students’ interest and ability in physics – developing models of context. In parallel, he conducts research on how educational transformations get taken up, spread, and sustained. These research projects range from the specifics of student learning particular concepts, to the departmental and institutional scales of sustainable educational transformation.����His research has resulted in over 150 publications.

He is increasingly involved in education policy. He has testified before the US Congress on STEM education at the undergraduate and graduate levels.����He serves on many national boards including the Board of Trustees for the Higher Learning Commission, is a Technical Advisor to the AAU, sits on the National Academies’ Roundtable on STEM education, and very involved in the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities’ efforts in STEM education. He has chaired both the American Physical Society’s Committee on Education and PER Topical Group.����He is a Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Presidential Teaching Scholar and the inaugural Timmerhaus Teaching Ambassador for the University of Colorado system.��

Dr. Phoebe S. K. Young received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College and her Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego.��Her most recent book, ��(Oxford University Press, 2021), traces the hidden history of camping and the outdoors in American life that connects a familiar recreational pastime to camps for functional needs and political purposes. Camping Grounds was reviewed in ��in April 2022 and won the ��from the Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association.��Her first book, ��(University of California Press, 2006, published under her previous name of Phoebe S. Kropp), examined public memories of the Spanish past, the built environment, regional development, and race relations in Southern California between the 1880s and the 1930s. She co-edited an anthology entitled ��(with Marguerite S. Shaffer, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015), including a co-authored introductory essay on “The Nature-Culture Paradox.” She is also co-editor (with Annie Gilbert Coleman) of a new book series at the University of Washington Press: “” and sits on the Editorial Board for the Western Historical Quarterly.��She has two veins of new research: one investigating historical and contemporary discourse promoting the “nature cure” – i.e. beliefs that outdoor recreation is good for human health and well being; the second concerns the art heist of a John James Audubon painting of a buffalo calf and themes of theft, value, wildlife, the West, and self-invention.��She has received multiple research grants, including fellowships from the Henry E. Huntington Library, the Smithsonian Institution, and the American Council of Learned Societies.

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Join us as we close out our annual Student Success Conference with panel featuring CU ������ý���� students, Dr. Amy Hutton, Erika Randall and Dr. D'Andra Mull

Dr. Amy Hutton serves as the vice chancellor for enrollment management, where she provides strategic leadership for Admissions, Student Financial Services, Precollege Outreach and Engagement, Enrollment Business Solutions, and Enrollment Management Marketing and Communications.

An internationally recognized authority at the intersection of enrollment management, storytelling, and data analytics, Hutton has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and delivered presentations at leading conferences. Her work has earned her widespread recognition for advancing data-informed strategies in higher education.

Before joining CU ������ý����, Hutton was the assistant vice president for enrollment management at The University of Alabama, where she led initiatives in admissions, recruitment, marketing, orientation, and technology. Her earlier roles at Virginia Commonwealth University included director of enrollment research and evaluation, director of admissions for the music department, adjunct professor of statistics, and assistant professor of theatre.

Hutton’s unique background also includes a career in professional theatre, where she served as a stage manager on and off Broadway. Her experience as a statistician and storyteller informs her innovative approach to leveraging data analytics for strategic enrollment planning.

She holds a doctorate and a master’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University.

Dr. D’Andra Mull has served the field of higher education and student affairs leading organizations and initiatives that uplift and enable a comprehensively excellent student experience for more than 20 years. Throughout her tenure, and beyond the traditional classroom setting, she has sought to enable student success through the creation of a campus experience in which all students can engage, transform and thrive as active citizens in an evolving global society.

Dr. Mull serves as the Vice Chancellor for Student Life at the ������ý���� (CU ������ý����), where she leads a division of over 35 departments, over 1,100 staff members��and more than 2,700 student employees. As the university’s chief student affairs officer, she develops and oversees numerous initiatives to enhance students’ sense of belonging, well-being��and career opportunities, creating pathways for student success.

Prior to joining CU ������ý����, Dr. Mull held numerous executive leadership posts in the divisions of student life at the University of Florida and Ohio State. Most recently, Dr. Mull served as Vice President for Student Life at the University of Florida (UF) leading a team of more than 25 departments committed to developing a robust community for 58,000+ undergraduate, graduate��and professional students and was responsible for managing a budget of $140 million. Within the Division of Student Life at Ohio State, she served as Associate Vice and Dean of Students; Assistant Vice President; Chief of Staff; Interim Director for the Multicultural Center; Director for Strategic Partnerships��and Director for Graduate Programs during her 16-year tenure with the Buckeyes.��

Dr. Mull serves on numerous student affairs executive committees for state and national organizations, including the American Association of Universities (AAU), the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU),��Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education (NASPA)��and as a higher education consultant in diversity and inclusion initiatives, organizational strategy and development��and strategic global recruitment and retention efforts. She has contributed to numerous national and international knowledge communities as an invited speaker, panelist��and author. 

As the recipient of multiple national honors, Dr. Mull’s awards include the 2022 ACPA Diamond Honoree award for her commitment to the advancement of research, scholarship��and programs that uplift college student development and success and the 2020 Dr. Kent L Gardner Award from the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors for her dedications to fostering positive change in the fraternity/sorority community, building partnerships within higher education and the interfraternal community��and mentoring both new and seasoned professionals. Under Dr. Mull’s leadership, the University of Florida Division of Student Life received the 2021 Most Promising Places to Work in Student Affairs from Diverse Issues in Higher Education.��

She is a first-generation college graduate who earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and criminal justice studies from Kent State University, a Master of Arts in higher, adult and lifelong education from Michigan State University��and a Ph.D. in educational policy and leadership from The Ohio State University.��

Erika Randall is the interim dean and vice provost of undergraduate education and a professor of dance. Randall sees her role as one of an amplifier, connector and conductor—of energy, programs and people—all in service to the thousands of undergraduate students who make up the heart of our campus.��

The dean and vice provost of undergraduate education sits at a nexus of collaboration, fostering relationships across campus that create clear pathways for all undergraduate students at every juncture of their student experience.

Randall has been a CU ������ý���� faculty member since 2007 and is a dancer, teacher, choreographer, and filmmaker. As a performer, she has worked with Megan Odom, Teena Marie Custer, Sydney Skybetter, Michelle Ellsworth, the Mark Morris Dance Group and Buglisi/Foreman Dance.

Her choreography has been seen in four countries and 16 states over the last decade, and her internationally award-winning screendance works, including: “Paula + Francesca,” “Down for the Count,” “less,” “more,” and “self defense,” have screened at festivals such as the Beirut International Women Film Festival, the Beyond the Curve International Film Festival in Paris, the Starz Denver Film Festival, the Florence Queer Festival in Italy, and the Façade Film Festival in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Randall co-wrote, directed and choreographed the feature-length dance film “Leading Ladies” (2010), which played to sold-out audiences at more than 65 festivals worldwide.��

Randall served as the choreographer and movement director for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (2017-24). Her podcast, “The Ampersand,” created with producer Tim Grassley, celebrates the alchemy of ANDing and can be found on most podcast platforms.

Before assuming her current administrative role, Randall served as chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance (2016–22), and as the associate dean for student success in the College of Arts and Sciences (2022-24). She received the Excellence in Leadership and Service Award from the ������ý���� Faculty Assembly in 2019.

Randall earned an MFA from The Ohio State University (2003), a BA from the University of Washington (1995), did coursework at the Juilliard School (1991-93), and earned her diploma from the Interlochen Arts Academy (1991).