Florida Atlantic: Coming Home

Florida Atlantic recently named Ken Dawson-Scully, Ph.D., provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. This is a homecoming for Dawson-Scully as he returns to the university he previously served, helping it continue its upward trajectory.

A Boca Raton resident since 2008, Dawson-Scully served in several leadership roles during his previous 13 years at Florida Atlantic (2008–21), including as associate vice president for strategic initiatives (2018–21). Among other achievements, he led initiatives that dramatically increased National Merit Scholar enrollment and was head of institutional partnerships at Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience. Dawson-Scully also served as director of the FAU Max Planck Honors Program, associate dean of graduate studies for the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and associate director of the FAU Brain Institute, among his many roles.

Dawson-Scully returns to lead the Division of Academic Affairs at a time when the university’s momentum is unmistakable. Florida Atlantic recently achieved three nationwide designations by the Carnegie Foundation as an R1 top-tier research institution, an Opportunity University for higher access and post-graduation earnings, and received the Elective Classification for Community Engagement, a rare combination that signals both research excellence and mission-driven impact.

“Florida Atlantic is living proof that a hometown university can build a world-class national reputation,” Dawson-Scully said. “We are big enough to shape the future and personal enough to change a student’s life. R1 is not a finish line. Opportunity is not a slogan. Community engagement is not a side project. These are commitments, and our job is to push them forward with urgency, with integrity and with results our students can feel. That is our edge, and it is why I am so excited to be home.”

Before returning to Florida Atlantic, Dawson-Scully served as the associate provost and senior vice president for research at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, where he led the Division of Research and Economic Development since 2021. With more than $185 million in active research funding, he directed a broad portfolio spanning federally funded projects, philanthropic initiatives, industry partnerships and regional collaborations. Under his research leadership, NSU elevated from R2 status to R1.

Dawson-Scully’s experience will be essential as the university develops its next five-year strategic plan — a plan that FAU President Adam Hasner emphasized will be built for speed, alignment and impact across the state.

“Our next strategic plan will align Florida Atlantic’s priorities with the State University System of Florida’s vision for extraordinary impact,” Hasner said. “That means elevating student success, advancing world-class talent, strengthening operational excellence, and expanding innovative research and economic development, all while telling a clear story of who we are and where we are going.”

Dawson-Scully sees the plan as the blueprint that will connect local mission to national stature.

“Our strategic plan has to read like a promise to students and a call to action for our community,” he said. “It must protect the soul of a hometown university while accelerating a world-class national reputation the university has built.”

He will focus on the fundamentals to help the university climb higher in national rankings: teaching excellence, advising and mentorship, graduate and professional pathways, and real career outcomes.

“Student success has to be measurable and practical,” Dawson-Scully said. “We will track the outcomes that matter, and we will never forget that every metric represents a real person who trusted us with their future career.”

Dawson-Scully emphasized that research excellence at Florida Atlantic will be strengthened across STEM and beyond.

“Yes, we will keep pushing forward in engineering, computing, health, neuroscience and the sciences,” he said. “And we will also elevate scholarship and creative work in education, the humanities, social work, architecture, and the disciplines that shape culture, community and opportunity.”

He also emphasized that Florida Atlantic’s identity is strengthened by its regional presence and deep relationships with the communities of South Florida, including its three Broward campuses in Dania Beach, Davie and downtown Fort Lauderdale; its flagship campus in Boca Raton; the John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter; and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce.

“We are one Florida Atlantic, across six campuses, and our communities should feel that,” Dawson-Scully said. “Boca Raton, Broward, Jupiter, Fort Pierce — each site is a gateway to opportunity. Our job is to align programs, partnerships and pathways so students can move from aspiration to achievement without friction.”

He underscored that he is stepping into this role with deep respect for Florida Atlantic’s leaders across the colleges and a clear commitment to shared governance.

“I am surrounded by the most extraordinary deans and faculty,” he said. “And I want to be direct about this: shared governance is how we make Florida Atlantic stronger. Faculty voice and expertise are essential to academic quality.”

As Dawson-Scully begins his tenure, he says the mission is clear: protect what makes Florida Atlantic personal and accelerate what makes it powerful.

“We will keep climbing,” Dawson-Scully said. “We will climb in student success and real outcomes. We will climb in shared governance and trust. We will climb in research impact and creative excellence. And we will climb in national reputation — while staying a true hometown university. If you want a place where you will be known and challenged, supported and inspired, where you can build a future that reaches far beyond South Florida, come build it with Florida Atlantic.”