The LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts announced that Professor Brad Elliott Stone and Professor Stefan Bradley will embark on new roles as associate deans in the college. Stone will become the associate dean for faculty affairs/shared governance and graduate education, while Bradley will serve as associate dean for faculty development/diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Both begin their service in June 2021.
“I am grateful for the many nominations and inquiries we received, and to all of our committed faculty for the feedback they provided about areas of strength in BCLA/Dean’s Office and areas for greater effort and/or emerging prioritization,” said Dean Robbin D. Crabtree. “A strong team in the Dean’s Office is essential to cultivating the talents and achievements of our students and faculty, and the leadership of Professors Stone and Bradley will contribute greatly to our overall goals and outcomes.”
They join Professor Jennifer Pate who will continue in her role as associate dean for undergraduate education and enrollment management. This June will mark the end of Associate Dean Jonathan Rothchild’s four years of service in the Dean’s Office. He will return to full-time teaching and research as professor of theological studies.
“Professor Rothchild has been an integral member of the Dean’s Office team, and his efforts mentoring faculty, guiding department chairs, and building a more collaborative culture across the college are beyond measure,” said Dean Crabtree.
Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs/Shared Governance and Graduate Education: Brad Elliott Stone
Brad Elliott Stone is a professor of philosophy and the current graduate director of the Philosophy M.A. program. First and foremost, he is known as a dedicated teacher and mentor who challenges, inspires, and empowers his students. His teaching was nationally recognized by the Princeton Review in 2012 when he appeared on its “The Best 300 Professors” list.
Stone began his tenure-track position at LMU in 2003 after receiving his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Memphis and serving as a Fulbright Scholar in Spain. Stone’s scholarship engages 20th-century continental metaphysics, contemporary Spanish philosophy, and American philosophy. He co-authored a monograph with Jacob Goodson titled “Introducing Prophetic Pragmatism: A Dialogue on Hope, the Philosophy of Race, and the Spiritual Blues” (Lexington, 2019), has published two edited volumes, more than twenty journal articles and book chapters, and has given numerous keynote addresses, conference presentations, and lectures in domestic and international contexts.
Over the years, his service to the department, college, and university has been consequential and wide-ranging. He serves on the Faculty Senate (2017-present) and Presidential Black Leadership Accountability Council, and also leads the Black Thought Seminar for The Learning Community (TLC) summer program (2014-present). He previously has served as chair of the African American Studies Department (2012-16) and director of the University Honors program (2009-13). In BCLA, he helped to establish the framework for shared governance (2013-14), co-directed the 2016 Bellarmine Forum (“The Values of Time”), and served as vice-chair of the College Council (2015-16).
Stone has made substantive contributions to intercultural affairs, the core curriculum, and the flourishing of students and faculty. He is a champion of robust collaboration and shared governance, opportunities for graduate students, and the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion. His new portfolio as associate dean will build on this work focusing on (1) those aspects of faculty affairs with direct links to the Faculty Handbook and related policies, procedures, and cycles, including ex officio membership on the Faculty Review Committee; (2) advancing and supporting all our structures and systems of shared governance, including ex officio membership on the Executive Committee and the Elections Committee, along with support for all College Council business and archives; and (3) graduate and post-baccalaureate programs, including ex officio membership on the Graduate Studies Committee and University Grad Council.
Outside of LMU, Stone is active in local ministry, currently serving as Christian education director and lay preacher at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Nativity.
Associate Dean for Faculty Development/Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives: Stefan Bradley
Stefan Bradley is professor and past chair (2017-2020) of African American studies and the current BCLA coordinator of diversity and inclusion initiatives. Bradley also serves as chair of the LMU Presidential Black Leadership Accountability Council, and is a fellow in the Cabinet Associates program, working with University Advancement.
A historian whose research has explored student activism on campus, Bradley has published the award-winning “Upending the Ivory Tower: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Ivy League” (New York University Press, 2018) and “Harlem vs. Columbia University: Black Student Power and the Late 1960s” (University of Illinois Press, 2009), as well as an edited volume and copious journal articles and book chapters. He is a public intellectual who has written a number of pieces that have appeared in mainstream media such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Chronicle of Higher Education, and is a frequent media commentator and guest lecturer on current events and topics in higher education and student activism.
Bradley is also a board member of the United Ways of California, and an active member of the Los Angeles community who regularly engages in raising awareness, facilitating conversations, and building consensus around concrete outcomes that promote the common good.
Stefan came to LMU in 2017, having taught at St. Louis University and Southern Illinois University—Edwardsville. He earned his B.A. from Gonzaga, an M.A from Washington State University-Pullman, and a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Since joining BCLA, he has led efforts to conceptualize, develop, and implement the college’s diversity and inclusion strategic plan. He has coordinated efforts to recruit and retain students and faculty of color and to develop pedagogical strategies that decolonize the curriculum and enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
Bradley’s new role as associate dean will give him the opportunity to enhance and expand his portfolio focusing on (1) those aspects of faculty affairs focused on recruitment and retention, community building, and research and teaching support, including assuming responsibility for coordinating our post-doctoral teaching fellows program, and ex officio membership on the Faculty Development Committee; (2) realization of our Diversity/Equity/Inclusion implementation goals, including chairing the BCLA D/E/I task force and membership on the corresponding University bodies; and (3) development/management of a new BCLA student advisory council initiative.
