Phi Beta Kappa President Esther L. Jones Named Associate Dean at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute 

WASHINGTON — July 31, 2026 — Esther L. Jones, President of The Phi Beta Kappa Society, has been named Associate Dean for Academic Programs at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Jones will assume the role in September 2026, following nearly three years as Brown University’s Associate Dean for Faculty Development.

At Radcliffe, Jones will oversee the Institute’s academic programs and work with Dean Tomiko Brown-Nagin and the Institute’s leadership team to advance Radcliffe Engaged 2.0, the Institute’s current strategic framework.

At Brown, Jones built the university’s faculty development office from the ground up as its first associate dean in the role. Under her leadership, the office produced or co-sponsored more than 30 programs, including an expanded new faculty orientation, leadership workshops for department chairs, a faculty writing retreat and dedicated programming for early- and mid-career faculty.

In her role as President of Phi Beta Kappa, Jones serves as the chair of the Society’s permanent governing body and board of directors, known as the Senate. Since her election as President in 2024, Jones has led the development and execution of Phi Beta Kappa’s 250th anniversary, guiding the strategy, national programming and events that mark 250 years since the Society’s founding in 1776 and set its course for the next 250, celebrating the idea that knowledge inspires action.

“Esther Jones’s leadership with Phi Beta Kappa during our 250th anniversary has been a lasting gift to this Society,” said Frederick M. Lawrence, Secretary and CEO of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. “She has made an indelible mark on this organization, and we could not be prouder to see her talents continue at the Radcliffe Institute.”

About Esther L. Jones

An interdisciplinary scholar, Jones (ΦBK, Fisk University) holds a Ph.D. in English with a specialization in contemporary African American and African diaspora literature and an M.A. in African American and African studies, both from The Ohio State University, and a B.A. in English and music from Fisk University. Her research draws on literature, history, philosophy and ethics to examine Black women’s health. Her publications include the book “Medicine and Ethics in Black Women’s Speculative Fiction” (2015). Before Brown, she spent more than a decade at Clark University, where she held the E. Franklin Frazier Chair of African American Literature, Theory and Culture and served as the university’s inaugural Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs.