Dear Student,
I am delighted to announce that Yu-Shan Lin, Professor and current Department Chair of Chemistry, will become a Dean of Academic Affairs for the School of Arts and Sciences, effective January 1, 2026. Professor Lin will be taking over the portfolio of Dean Sam Thomas, who will be departing Tufts at the end of the calendar year for his new role at the University of Rochester. We will be working with the Department of Chemistry to identify and appoint a new chair.
Given Professor Lin’s demonstrated leadership as Department Chair for a complex and large department, her interdisciplinary research and collaborations across the university, her focus on the importance of relationship building, and her successful extramural funding and research record, I am very excited for her to step into this role. As Dean of Academic Affairs, she will supervise the STEM, Community Health, Child Study and Human Development, and Education departments. Professor Lin will additionally supervise the A&S Faculty Affairs office. She will also join the A&S Strategic Planning project, co-leading the working group focused on Student Success.
In her role as Professor of Chemistry, Professor Lin specializes in computational biophysical chemistry. Her lab develops and applies computational methods to address significant biological problems that are difficult to study experimentally, including using simulations and machine learning to help understand the structures and properties of peptides and design peptide-based therapeutics. Professor Lin came to Tufts in 2012 as an Assistant Professor, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2018, and became a Professor and Chair of the department in 2024. She received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University before joining Tufts.
I would also like to thank Professor Thomas for his exemplary leadership and dedication to Tufts. I also thank the A&S Chairs and Directors’ Advisory Committee, who provided helpful input on the nominations I received for this important position.
I am delighted to welcome Professor Lin into our leadership team! Please join me in congratulating her as she takes on this new role.
Sincerely,
Bárbara M. Brizuela
Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences
Professor of Education
