College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office

Fourth Floor, Tykeson Hall
1030 East 13th Ave
Eugene, OR 97403-1245
541-346-3902

Chris Poulsen

Tykeson Dean of Arts and Sciences
541-346-3902
Fourth Floor, Tykeson Hall
poulsenc@uoregon.edu
Executive support: Jenni Crowder

Chris Poulsen oversees the operations of the College of Arts and Sciences, which offers 50 major degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, and includes 900 faculty members and more than 2,000 employees. He sits on the Academic Leadership Team and the Dean’s Council. Before coming to the UO, Poulsen was the Associate Dean for Natural Sciences in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan (2018-2022). He is an earth scientist who also served as chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at U-M (2014-2018).

Elliot Berkman

Divisional Associate Dean, Natural Sciences
541-346-0532
Fourth Floor, Tykeson Hall
adnaturalsciences@uoregon.edu
Executive support: Rory Sweeney

Elliot Berkman is a professor in the Department of Psychology, co-director of the Center for Translational Neuroscience and core faculty member of The Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health. He joined the University of Oregon in 2010 and has since contributed significantly to the fields of cognitive and social neuroscience and health psychology, receiving awards for his research. He has also served the UO in different capacities: chair of the Vice President for Research and Innovation’s Research Advisory Board (2017-19), a member of the Task Force on the Structure of the College of Arts and Sciences (2018-19), a member of the CAS Dean’s Advisory Council (2019-20), a member of the President and Provost’s Faculty Advisory Council (2019-21 and 2022-23), and as UO Senate President (2020-21).

Lara Bovilsky

Associate Dean, Graduate Studies
Fourth Floor, Tykeson Hall
adgraduatestudies@uoregon.edu
Executive support: Verla LeBaron

Lara Bovilsky is an associate professor in the Department of English. She joined the University of Oregon in 2008, and she studies early modern British understandings of group and individual identity. She has received many awards for research and teaching, having most recently been selected as a Folger Shakespeare Fellow (2022-23) and received the Herman Specialized Pedagogy Award (2022) and a National Endowment for the Humanities grant (2016-17). In addition to her scholarship, she has been recognized for her work diversifying and supporting graduate students in English. Bovilsky has dedicated a significant portion of her career to improving the graduate student experience at the University of Oregon.

Jamie Bufalino

Associate Dean, Undergraduate Education
541-346-3899
Fourth Floor, Tykeson Hall
bufalino@uoregon.edu
Executive support: Kathleen Davis

Jamie Mayhew Bufalino is a senior instructor in the department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She also directs the General Social Sciences Program at the University of Oregon. She joined the Dean's Leadership team in the summer of 2022. Prior to her appointment as Associate Dean, she served for two years as the Student Success Liaison for the College of Arts and Sciences.

Bruce McGough

Divisional Associate Dean, Social Sciences
541-346-0551
Fourth Floor, Tykeson Hall
adsocialsci@uoregon.edu
Executive support: Alejandra Montes

Bruce McGough is a professor in the Department of Economics and has been a faculty member of the University of Oregon since 2012. During his tenure, he has held numerous leadership positions, including department head of economics from 2016 to 2019. He has also served on university-wide groups, such as Senate Budget Committee, the UO Senate, and the Summer Session Review Group. From 2012 to 2016, he was the co-editor of the academic journal Economic Inquiry, and he is the associate editor on two journal boards. In 2016, he received a National Science Foundation grant, and in 2021 he was awarded the Faculty Excellence Award. McGough will serve through June 2026.

Sherri Nelson

Associate Dean, Finance and Administration
541-346-8196
Fourth Floor, Tykeson Hall
sherrin@uoregon.edu

The Associate Dean for Finance and Administration (ADFA) is the primary and lead financial and business officer of the college and is the key strategic advisor for the dean for non-academic matters. This position reports directly to the dean and is responsible for developing, implementing, and managing the college's annual budget processes and ongoing financial transactions for all fund types, including sponsored projects. It also oversees and is responsible for CAS’s human resources strategy and functions including the administrative support division. Sherri advises the dean, divisional associate deans, and associate deans on matters related to finance and business administration. She also participates in all management, policy, and program planning decisions for the college as a member of the CAS leadership team. This position represents CAS to constituents across the university, including officers of other schools and colleges; central offices such as Budget & Resource Planning, Human Resources, Office of the Provost, etc.

Jennifer Pfeifer

Associate Dean, Research and Scholarship
541-346-0532
Fourth Floor, Tykeson Hall
adresearch@uoregon.edu
Executive support: Rory Sweeney

Jennifer Pfeifer is a professor in the Department of Psychology. Since joining the University of Oregon in 2008, she has held a variety of advisory positions: co-director of the Center for Translational Neuroscience, co-director of National Scientific Council on the Developing Adolescent and science advisor for the social innovation center Hopelab. She also played a central role in the development and launch of the Ballmer Institute for Children's Behavioral Health. Her research work has been funded by several organizations, including the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Science Foundation — and more. She has also worked with early career researchers, fostering their success in ways that help advance and diversify the UO.

Erica Bornstein

Divisional Associate Dean, Humanities
541-346-3266
Fourth Floor, Tykeson Hall
ddhumanities@uoregon.edu
Executive support: Alejandra Montes

Erica Bornstein joined the CAS leadership team in July 2025 as the Humanities Divisional Associate Dean. She has been a member of the UO faculty and a professor in the Department of Anthropology since 2022. Before coming to UO, she was a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she held a number of administrative positions including chair of the Anthropology department (2018-21), president of the Association for Political and Legal Anthropology (2019-21), and director of the interdisciplinary International Studies program (2011-18). At UO, she has been an active contributor to university governance and strategic planning. She has served on the UO Senate, the Budget Advisory Group, and the CAS Strategic Planning Steering Committee.

Yifang Zhang

Assistant Dean, Career Readiness
541-346-5088
Fourth Floor, Tykeson Hall
yzhang1@uoregon.edu
Executive support: Kathleen Davis

Yifang Zhang joined the College of Arts and Sciences' Undergraduate Education Team in 2025. She oversees the CAS career preparation initiative, which ensures that all CAS students engage in career exploration, skill development, and networking activities from their first year on campus. She leads the career preparation team to provide support to faculty and staff in strategically embedding the new career preparation learning outcomes and experiential opportunities within the curriculum.  Yifang has 20 years of experience building programs from ground up at the UO, which include the Title VI National Resource Center outreach initiative, the Freeman Internship Fellowship grant, the Oregon International Internship Program, and GlobalWorks Internships.