Staff Directory

The Graduate School Organization

The Graduate School is comprised of a dedicated group of professionals to serve the needs of the graduate community:

  • Dean of the Graduate School
  • Dean's executive staff (associate and assistant deans)
  • Dean's administrative and business staff
  • Student services staff
  • IT development team
  • Postdoctoral Affairs
  • Graduate Admissions

Leadership

  • Dean Sarah Ades

    Sarah Ades

    Dean of the Graduate School

    Senior Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

    Dr. Ades comes to The University of Texas at Austin from Penn State where she most recently was the associate dean for graduate student affairs in the Graduate School at Penn State, and also served as a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Eberly College of Science. She received the Penn State Teaching Fellow Award, the Alumni Association and Student Award for Teaching Excellence, and the C.I. Noll Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Eberly College of Science Alumni Society. Ades is the recipient of a Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation and a GlaxoSmithKline Discovery Fast Track Competition winner. She has also served on the editorial board for the Journal of Bacteriology.

    Before her tenure at Penn State, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institut de Biologie Molecularie et Cellulaire in Strasbourg, France, and at the University of California, San Francisco. She received a bachelor’s degree in molecular physics and biochemistry from Yale University and a Ph.D. in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  • Marvin Hackert

    Marvin L. Hackert

    Senior Associate Dean, Fellowships and Graduate Affairs; William Shive Centennial Professor in Biochemistry

    Dean Hackert oversees applications for doctoral candidacy and related matters in Architecture, Business, Engineering, Natural Sciences, Nursing, Pharmacy, Computational and Applied Mathematics, and Neuroscience.

    Other areas of focus: Student Fellowships, Professional Development Awards, Select Admission Program, Academic Program reviews, Postdoctoral Affairs, Graduate Student Housing, and Paisano Ranch and Fellows

  • Michelle Broadway

    Michelle Broadway

    Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies

    Dean Broadway oversees proposals for new or changed degree, certificate, and portfolio programs, Graduate School Catalog, classification of graduate students, publications & other communications and special projects.

  • Jim Cox

    James H. Cox

    Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Graduate Student Services; Jane and Roland Blumberg Centennial Professor of English

    Dean Cox oversees applications for doctoral candidacy and related matters in Communication, Education, Fine Arts, Liberal Arts, Public Affairs, Social Work, and Library and Information Science as well as academic and registration policies and procedures.

  • jake wyatt headshot

    Jake Wyatt

    Chief Business Officer

    In his role as Chief Business Officer, Jake Wyatt oversees the business affairs team which includes human resources, budget & financial planning, and business office processing activities.

  • Nick Hundley

    Nick Hundley

    Director, Recruitment and External Relations

    In his role as director of recruitment and external affairs, Nick Hundley oversees communications and marketing for the Graduate School and graduate student recruitment at the university. He works with graduate programs across campus to identify strategies to identify and attract top students and communicate with key audiences to enhance graduate education at the university.

  • Shannon Neuse

    Shannon Neuse

    Director, Office of Graduate Admissions

    As director of the Office of Graduate Admissions, Shannon Neuse oversees the processing of over 30,000 graduate school applications annually. She provides guidance and training for graduate programs on the holistic application review process and helps to define the enrollment plan and goals in recruiting, admitting and enrolling domestic and international graduate students.

  • Lydia Contreras headshot

    Lydia Contreras

    Associate Dean of Postdoctoral Affairs; Paul D. & Betty Robertson Meek Centennial Professorship in Chemical Engineering

    As the Associate Dean of Postdoctoral Affairs, Dr. Lydia Contreras oversees the newly established Office of Postdoctoral Affairs within the Graduate School’s portfolio. This office supports the professional and career development of postdoctoral scholars at UT Austin equipping them with the research, scholarship and/or creative activity and professional skills necessary to successfully undertake independent academic research.

Deans' Administrative Staff

Student Services

Business Services

IT Development Team

Postdoctoral Affairs

  • Lydia Contreras headshot

    Lydia Contreras

    Associate Dean of Postdoctoral Affairs; Paul D. & Betty Robertson Meek Centennial Professorship in Chemical Engineering

  • Del Watson

    Del Watson

    Director of Postdoctoral Affairs

Graduate Admissions Staff