Senior Leadership

Dr. Renée T. White

PROVOST AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Dr. Renée T. White is the provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs of The New School and a professor of sociology at The New School for Social Research. With nearly 30 years of experience working in higher education, Dr. White came to The New School from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, where she served as provost and professor of sociology. Dr. White also served as a professor of sociology and Black studies and as the academic coordinator for Diversity and Global Citizenship at Fairfield University.

Dr. White is the editor of four books, including Afrofuturism in "Black Panther": Gender, Identity, and the Re-Making of Blackness (2021), and the author of Putting Risk in Perspective: Black Teenage Lives in the Era of AIDS. She also served as editor of the Journal of HIV/AIDS Prevention in Children and Youth. Dr. White completed a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship in Black film studies. Her current research focuses on representations of Blackness in popular culture and applications of Black feminist theory to higher education leadership.

Dr. White holds an AB from Brown University and an MA and PhD from Yale University. She is a board member of the Ms. Foundation for Women, a member of the Rachel Carson Council National Advisory Council, an honorary board member of the Synthia SAINT JAMES Art Legacy Foundation, and a member of the advisory board of Seeds of Fortune. In June 2024, Dr. White’s accomplishments in higher education were recognized when she was named to the City & State New York’s 2024 Trailblazers in Higher Education list.

Anne Adriance

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Anne Adriance joined The New School in October 2013, charged with elevating the university's public profile. Today, in addition to leading all marketing and communication university-wide, she oversees new ventures including executive and online education, corporate partnerships, and licensing. To advance recognition and understanding of the university, she launched a celebrated new brand identity system, with a unique algorithm-based font, that graphically integrates the university and its colleges. Named the American Marketing Association’s Marketer of the Year, she led our team in creating a comprehensive and integrated marketing campaign recognized as groundbreaking in higher education and to establish enterprises that have expanded The New School’s ability to bring its academic offerings to new audiences, including executives, online learners, and partners in a wide range of organizations. Throughout her tenure, Anne’s focus has been on promoting the story of The New School’s distinctive vision, forward-looking educational approach, and remarkable contributions to the world. 

Anne brings to her job more than 25 years of experience in marketing communication and strategic brand design in commercial, nonprofit, government, and media settings, for companies and organizations such as General Mills, CNN, Cartoon Network, BusinessWeek, Kodak, Procter & Gamble, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Of special note is her work with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to launch the nation's largest and most successful public health media campaign and the first national effort to prevent childhood obesity. Anne has held senior executive positions at the Burns Group, a brand consultancy and innovation agency she co-founded; Saatchi & Saatchi, as executive vice president, leading the largest account in the company's New York office; Time Warner, as the senior vice president for Turner Broadcasting's licensing and merchandising and global brand management; and Guideposts, as senior vice president for consumer marketing at the country's largest publisher of inspirational publications and digital content. Anne has a bachelor's degree from Princeton University.

Dr. Jennifer E. Hobbs

UNIVERSITY SECRETARY AND SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR ADMINISTRATION AND CHIEF OF STAFF

Dr. Jennifer E. Hobbs joined The New School in April 2020 as senior vice president for Administration and chief of staff. In these roles, she works in collaboration with institutional leaders, colleagues across the university, and constituents to plan, coordinate, and advance the university’s vision and academic mission. She has been in higher education administration for more than ten years, working to remove impediments to institutional advancement and to develop efficient, data-driven, humanistic approaches to institutional decision making, processes, and policies. Before coming to The New School, she served as chief of staff and vice provost in the Office of the Provost at Emory University. She earned a BS in Biology at Loyola University Chicago and a PhD at Northwestern University through the Driskill Graduate Program in the Life Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine.

Meg Kaufmann

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT

Meg Kaufmann joined The New School in 2015 and served in a variety of development roles before becoming interim senior vice president for Development and Alumni Engagement in 2024. In this role, Meg leads The New School’s strategic fundraising, institutional advancement, alumni engagement, corporate and foundation relations, and related areas. With more than 15 years in the field, Meg brings to her work comprehensive experience in and knowledge of higher education fundraising in leadership and annual fundraising, event planning, the creation and management of boards, major and planned giving, campaigns, and principal level gift strategy. She is driven by a personal and professional commitment to equity, inclusion, and social justice and by a belief that philanthropy can be a force for positive and sustained change. Before joining The New School, Meg served in development roles at organizations such as Northwestern University and Columbia University Medical Center. She earned her Master's of Science in Nonprofit Management at Columbia University.

Alex Perez

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL

A highly accomplished attorney, Alex brings to the university nearly two decades of experience in legal affairs at leading law firms and in higher education. He joined The New School after serving as chief of staff and senior vice chancellor in the Office of the Chancellor-Provost at Rutgers University—New Brunswick, overseeing a broad spectrum of administrative, operational, and service functions in various units of the university. Alex concurrently served Rutgers University as associate general counsel in the Office of the General Counsel. In this capacity, he worked closely with Rutgers University leadership on a variety of legal matters, particularly in relation to athletics and international matters. Before serving as chief of staff and senior vice chancellor, Alex worked in the Rutgers Office of the General Counsel, where he provided legal advice on all aspects of education law, including student affairs, faculty matters, governance issues, athletics, and academic affairs. Alex started his legal career as an associate in the general practice group at Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP, in New York City. He received a BA from Columbia University and a JD from Northwestern University School of Law. He is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and is a frequent presenter and speaker on topics relating to athletics and international affairs.

Francisco brings to The New School more than 25 years of leadership and operational expertise across the business, nonprofit, and higher education sectors to The New School. A seasoned strategy, operations, and finance executive, Francisco most recently served as the executive vice president of Asset Management at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, a position in which he oversaw the city’s extensive real estate portfolio, including commercial, industrial, and strategic properties, as well as economic development assets. His responsibilities also encompassed the city’s river and harbor ports, major urban adaptive reuse projects, and one of the nation's most ambitious municipal decarbonization initiatives. Throughout his career, Francisco has successfully expanded business lines and educational programs and has skillfully navigated complex debt restructuring processes, mergers, integrations, and the structuring of equity and debt transactions. Francisco's extensive background in infrastructure, private equity, and turnaround management, gained through positions at Merrill Lynch, Hess, and BNP Paribas, has enabled him to offer unique insights and valuable contributions to mission-driven and purpose-focused institutions.

A passionate advocate for education, research, and innovation, Francisco served as Columbia University’s graduate program director and a faculty member in Construction Administration from 2015 to 2021, playing a pivotal role in propelling the program to the top of national rankings through his dedication to students, industry, and program faculty. He continued as a faculty member until September 2024. Francisco holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a BA in History. He is currently completing his PhD in Urban Systems at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, advancing his research on sustainable regional systems and the intersection of finance, technology, and governance. Francisco is a decorated U.S. Navy veteran who served in support of stability and humanitarian aid operations in Africa, Asia, and alongside UN missions.

Alex Aleinikoff

EXECUTIVE DEAN, THE NEW SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH

Alex Aleinikoff is the executive dean of The New School for Social Research and a University Professor. He has served as director of the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility since January 2017. He received a JD from the Yale Law School and a BA from Swarthmore College.

Alex has written widely in the areas of immigration and refugee law and policy, transnational law, citizenship, race, and constitutional law. His latest book is The Arc of Protection: Reforming the International Refugee Regime (Stanford University Press, 2019), co-authored by Leah Zamore. His book Semblances of Sovereignty: The Constitution, the State, and American Citizenship was published by Harvard University Press in 2002. Alex is a co-author of leading legal casebooks on immigration law and forced migration.

From 2010 to 2015, Alex served as United Nations deputy high commissioner for Refugees. He was a member of the faculties of the Georgetown University Law Center, where he also served as dean and executive vice president for Law Center Affairs, and at the University of Michigan Law School. He was co-chair of the Immigration Task Force for President Barack Obama’s transition team in 2008. From 1994 to 1997, he served as the general counsel and then executive associate commissioner for programs at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

Alex was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2014.

Christoph Cox

EXECUTIVE DEAN, EUGENE LANG COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

Dr. Christoph Cox joined The New School as Executive Dean of Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts in August 2022, following more than 25 years in senior leadership and faculty roles at Hampshire College, Bard College, The University of Chicago, and Hamilton College. A philosopher, critic, and curator of visual and sonic art, Christoph teaches and writes on contemporary European philosophy, cultural theory, and aesthetics. He is the author of Sonic Flux: Sound, Art, and Metaphysics and Nietzsche: Naturalism and Interpretation and is a co-editor of Realism Materialism Art and Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music. The recipient of an Arts Writers Grant from Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation, Christoph is an editor-at-large at Cabinet magazine. His writing has appeared in journals and magazines such as October, Artforum, Journal of the History of Philosophy, The Wire, Journal of Visual Culture, Organised Sound, and the Review of Metaphysics. He has curated numerous exhibitions in venues across the United States, including the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, The Kitchen, CONTEXT Art Miami, New Langton Arts, and G Fine Art Gallery. Christoph holds a PhD in the History of Consciousness from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a BA in Modern Culture and Media from Brown University.

Richard Kessler

EXECUTIVE DEAN, COLLEGE OF PERFORMING ARTS

Richard Kessler joined The New School in 2011. Kessler has both undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Juilliard School in Music Performance.

Florence Leclerc

DEAN, PARSONS PARIS

Florence Leclerc is the dean of Parsons Paris. She is also the senior director of Strategic Academic Partnerships and works on both campuses—New York and Paris—of The New School. Leclerc has spent most of her life abroad and currently lives in the United States and France. She obtained her master's degree in translation from the École de Traduction et d’Interprétation of Geneva, Switzerland, as well as an MBA in Marketing from SUNY New Paltz. For a number of years, she chaired the Foreign Languages Department at The New School in New York, where she taught all levels of French language and culture. In 2013, she moved back to France to relaunch Parsons Paris. Leclerc is also an associate professor of foreign languages and a novelist.

Lisa R. Rubin was appointed interim executive dean of the Schools of Public Engagement in 2024. Lisa joined The New School in 2006, with a joint appointment with the Schools for Public Engagement (SPE) and The New School for Social Research (NSSR). Lisa has served in various leadership roles encompassing undergraduate and graduate studies: as co-director of the university-wide Gender and Sexuality Studies Graduate Certificate, chair of Psychology in the School of Undergraduate Studies at SPE, and, most recently, as the assistant director of Clinical Training in NSSR’s APA-accredited Clinical Psychology program. She holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Arizona State University.

Lisa's scholarship connects health psychology with psychologies of gender, exploring lived experiences of embodiment, illness, and disability across intersections of gender, race, and class. Her research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute and the NIH/Human Genome Project Ethical Legal Social Implications program, and she has published widely in leading journals in psychology, social science and medicine, and bioethics. She has served on the editorial board of the leading journals in feminist psychology, including Psychology ofWomen Quarterly, Feminism & Psychology, and currently Women’s Reproductive Health. Lisa is a past recipient of the New School’s Distinguished University Teaching Award and the 2024 recipient of the Florence Denmark Distinguished Mentoring Award from the Association for Women in Psychology.

Yvonne Watson

EXECUTIVE DEAN, PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN

Yvonne Watson was appointed interim executive dean of Parsons School of Design in July 2022. A member of the School of Fashion faculty and leadership since 2010, Yvonne most recently served as Parsons’ dean of Curriculum and Learning and advisor to the Provost’s Office on Curriculum. As a member of the Parsons Deans’ Council, Yvonne has been developing a systematic approach to ensuring that the programs at Parsons are designed within a culture of equity, inclusion, and social justice. Before holding this position, Yvonne was associate dean of Curriculum and Learning, a role in which she oversaw assessment and support for faculty investment and pedagogical growth. She previously served as associate dean of the School of Fashion, where she was instrumental in the development and implementation of the BFA Fashion Design curriculum and articulation of pathways.

Yvonne's career has spanned roles encompassing undergraduate and graduate studies. She holds a master’s in Globalization, Identity and Technology from The School of Humanities, Nottingham Trent University, and is undertaking a doctorate in Education with a focus on questions around the role that community, belonging, and kindness play in the development of inclusive pedagogy. Her praxis involves work in fashion sustainability and the rethinking of the supply chain to create inclusive spaces for global artisans and fashion entrepreneurs from developing and emerging economies.