Meet the Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion

Jayanthi Mistry

Interim Associate Dean of Student Diversity, Inclusion, and Success and Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion (ADDI)

Jayanthi has been a faculty member at Tufts for more than thirty years, first joining Eliot-Pearson as an Assistant Professor in 1990. She served as department chair from 2009 to 2012 and from 2021 to 2023, and has been an advocate for diversity and inclusion since she joined the department. Her research focuses on the development of identity, perceived discrimination in neighborhood contexts, and broadly addresses issues of equity and access. Prior to joining Tufts, she worked at the Center for the Development of Early Education at Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she was engaged in research and program development projects for early childhood education. Since then, she has maintained a commitment to developing effective collaborations with practitioners in education and community-based human service settings such as her work on the RISE Project (Readiness through Integrative Science and Engineering) and ongoing work with City Lights Writing Collaborative. She completed a National Institute of Mental Health Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Utah and received her PhD from Purdue University.

In her role as the head of the Division of Student Diversity and Inclusion, Jayanthi will supervise the eight identity-based centers and provide leadership in the DEIJ space for AS&E. Jayanthi’s scholarly and practical expertise working and studying in the areas of cultures and identities position her especially well to take on these important responsibilities.