Lionel Popkin named dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture

Lionel Popkin, who has served as interim dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture since February 2024, has been appointed the school's permanent dean, effective May 1.

In his interim role, Popkin has provided UCLA Arts with steady and principled leadership during a challenging time, expanding support for student scholarships and faculty research, strengthening and revitalizing the school's board, fostering cross-departmental teaching and collaboration, and moving forward with long-deferred capital planning - without losing sight of the human side of the job.

"His instinct to gather the school's community in difficult moments, and to make the dean's office itself a space for the display of student work, speaks to a leader who understands that institutional strength and community well-being are inseparable," UCLA Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt wrote today in a message to campus announcing Popkin's permanent role. "He brings to this appointment not only momentum, but a deep commitment to transparency, ethical leadership, and the belief that the arts and education are among the most powerful forces for change in the world."

A professor of choreography who joined the UCLA Arts faculty in 2006, Popkin has held a range of leadership roles, including associate dean of academic affairs from 2021 to 2024, chair of the department of world arts and cultures/dance from 2015 to 2018, and equity advisor from 2020 to 2021. He currently chairs the UCLA Chancellor's Council on the Arts and has contributed to numerous campuswide committees focused on research, undergraduate education, academic personnel and finance.

As an artist, Popkin has performed as a dancer and completed commissions for a variety of notable dance companies. His work has been presented at prestigious venues across the U.S., the U.K., China and South America, with his most recent project, "Reorient the Orient," premiering in March 2024 at REDCAT in Los Angeles. He has been the recipient of grants and support from the Mellon Foundation and the National Performance Network's Creation Fund, among others, and is currently a resident artist at the 18th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica.

Popkin's artistic work often explores issues of hybridity, archival practices, historical inequities and complexities surrounding the representations of the South Asian diaspora in North America - topics he has also explored in his writings, which have included book chapters and journal articles. His manuscript "Reorienting Performance: Artmaking in the South Asian Diaspora" is slated for publication by Intellect Press in 2027.

Popkin, who before coming to UCLA had served on the faculties of Bates College, London's Laban Dance Centre, Sarah Lawrence College, Temple University and the University of Maryland, expressed his gratitude to UCLA leadership and the UCLA Arts community for their support as he begins his permanent role.

"Serving as interim dean these past two years has been deeply humbling," he said. "During this challenging time for the arts and for higher education, I've witnessed extraordinary and inspiring work from our staff, our faculty and especially our students - work that changes how we see the world and how we see ourselves.

"In moments like these, our creative contributions have their most profound value, and our community means more than ever. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to carry this mission forward and cannot imagine a more vital or capable community of artists, architects and scholars with whom to forge the future of UCLA Arts."