Annual Report 2025-2026
Dean’s Message
1.
I am pleased to share the 2025-2026 Annual Report for the School of Arts and Sciences (A&S) at Tufts. This has been a great year with a lot of good news for the school and many accomplishments to celebrate! I am particularly proud of the record number of undergraduate applications that A&S received for the class of 2030, which was influenced in large part by the start of the Tufts Tuition Pact, a new initiative that grants free tuition for families earning less than $150,000. This has also been an incredible year for fundraising with the team raising over $77 million, 40% higher than our initial $55 million goal. Additionally, there were a number of important building and infrastructure updates that got underway this year including construction on undergraduate housing at Pachyderm Place, breaking ground on the Aquatic Center, and the opening of Bacon Hall after extensive renovations. Finally, a great deal of work has been put into the A&S Strategic Plan this year, which I am looking forward to sharing more about. Our goal is to continue to position the school for greater and greater success in the future. As we look forward to another year ahead and all that is to come, I hope you will enjoy reviewing highlights of the past year at A&S.
Bárbara M. Brizuela
Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Professor of Education
2.
AY 2025-2026
By the Numbers Most Popular Majors
UNDERGRADUATE STATISTICS
5,151
Undergraduate Students
1,381
Biology
Degrees Conferred
Economics International Relations
(2026)
Most Popular Minors
28,342 Applications Class of 2030
11% Acceptance Rate
Finance
Child Study & Human Development
Spanish
Learn more about the Class of 2030.
Won most-ever NCAA Team Championships: Field Hockey, Men’s Soccer, Men’s Lacrosse, and Women’s Rowing
Athletics
3.
Won most-ever NESCAC Championships: Men’s Cross Country, Men’s and Women’s Soccer, Women’s Volleyball, Baseball, Men’s Lacrosse, Men’s Tennis, and Women’s Spring Track & Field 505 Jumbos earned NESCAC All-Academic Team honors (maintaining 3.50+ GPAs)
Funds Raised for Financial Aid
$14.5 Million+ The average undergraduate student debt post-graduation is less than $15,000. The Tufts Tuition Pact makes Tufts tuitionfree for US undergraduates with families earning less than $150,000/year.
GRADUATE STATISTICS
1,306 Graduate Students
Departments with the Biggest Master’s Programs
Degrees Conferred
64 25 413 72 23 PhDs
OTDs
Master’s Graduate EdSs Degrees Certificates
Newly Launched or Revised Graduate Programs
MS in Bioinformatics
MA in Creative Practice
Urban and Child Study Biology Environmental & Human Policy & Planning Development
Departments with the Biggest PhD Programs
Chemistry
Biology Mathematics
Department with the Biggest Overall Graduate Program
MS in MA in Computational Computational and Cognitive Science Digital Humanities
Post-baccalaureate MS in Biology Pre-Health with a Specialization Certificate in Marine Science
21 Occupational Therapy
Fifth-year Master’s Programs
4.
2025-26
By the Numbers continued...
8,294
7+ Million
150
Total attendees to the Art Galleries
Digital downloads from Tisch Library
Years of the SMFA (and 10 with Tufts)
Tufts again recognized as a
Top Producer of US Fulbright Students 14 young alumni received full-year stipends to research and teach in 13 countries
Tufts named again to
Tufts named a
Tufts ranked in the
LinkedIn’s “Top 20 Colleges for Career Success” list
“New Ivy”
Top 100 US Universities
by Forbes for the second year in a row
49 Faculty received one or more grants or fellowships
5.
15 Students and recent alumni received awards from the Graduate Research Fellowship Program of the National Science Foundation
granted patents for invention in 2025 by the National Academy of Inventors
$77,000,
Fundrai
A&S surpassed initial and reach fund
Supporting Corporations, Foundations, and Federal Agencies Our faculty, staff, and students secured grants and fellowships from numerous corporations, foundations, and federal agencies including:
,000+
ised
both its draising goals
American Chemical Society, American Council of Learned Societies, Barr Foundation, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, Gates Foundation, Boston Children's Hospital, Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Children's Trust Fund, Coins for Alzheimer’s Research, Committee for Public Counsel Services, Davidson College, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Education, Devens Enterprise Commission, Duke University, Fauna Systems, Fidelity Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, Heinz Family Foundation, Henry R. Luce Foundation, Israel on Campus Coalition, Johns Hopkins University, J. Paul Getty Trust, Lahey Clinic, Inc., Massachusetts Department of Early Education, Massachusetts Department of Public Safety, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NASA, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Parents as Teachers National Center (PAT), Peabody Essex Museum, Rheumatology Research Foundation, Rhode Island Department of Education, Russell Sage Foundation, Rutgers University, Schmidt Sciences, Sidney R. Baer Jr Foundation, Stanford University, Teiger Foundation, Templeton Religion Trust, The Andrew W Mellon Foundation, The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Tufts Medical Center, University of New Mexico, University of Pennsylvania, University of Vermont, University of Virginia, Velum Incorporated, Wagner Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation
6.
7. Laurel Nakadate SMFA at Tufts
Freeden Blum Sociolo
2026 recipient of the Maud Morgan Prize from the MFA Boston, which honors Massachusetts women who have made significant contributions to the contemporary arts.
Awarded a 2026-2027 Ra work on a book manuscrip that W.E.B. Du Bois origin never comp
Liana Woskie Community Health
Maurice Pa Theatre, Dance, and Per
Awarded “Best of Conference” for research in Women’s Health at AcademyHealth Conference for project on restrictions on misoprostol retail pharmaceutical markets.
Won the Boston Theater C 2026 Elliot Norton Awar Director, Small Theater Mountaint
69
Named and Endowed Professorships
23
me Oeur ogy
Ayanna Thomas Psychology
Eoin McGuirk Economics
adcliffe Fellowship to pt on Black childhood nally envisioned but pleted.
Named President-elect of the Association for Psychological Science.
Published research in Review of Economic Studies which shows the connection between low rainfall and the outbreak of civil conflict in Africa.
arent rformance Studies
Michael Levin Biology
Oxana Shevel Political Science
Critics Association’s rd for Outstanding r for the play The top.
Published a study in Advanced Science revealing how tiny neurobots made from frog cells exhibit complex movements with simple neural networks.
Won the Canadian Association for Ukrainian Studies Best Book Award for her co-authored book Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States (Polity, 2024).
3
New full-time faculty starting in Fall 2026. Read their bios on the A&S website.
8.
Undergraduate Student Stories
Luz Palou García
Mathew Ltisinywa Letua
Saskia Solotko
SMFA at Tufts
Economics
Mathematics
As part of her BFA senior thesis Luz Palou García created a series of fantastical creatures, inspired by the Mexican folk-art tradition of alebrijes, that serves as a warm hug to anyone who feels out of place.
Mathew Ltisinywa Letua was awarded a $10,000 Davis Projects for Peace grant which will support his plan to provide financial education, debt relief, and seed funding programs for women and girls in Samburu County, Kenya.
A former rower, Saskia Solotko credits her athlete’s persistence with helping her win both the Alice T. Schafer Mathematics Prize, a national award recognizing undergraduate research by a woman in mathematics, and a Churchill Scholarship for graduate study.
9. Student Stories
Graduate Student Stories
John Lehman
Ishaan Sood
Julia Soojin Cavallaro
Interdisciplinary
Mathematics
Music
John Lehman has spent years exploring Haruki Murakami’s novel The WindUp Bird Chronicle through visual art. As part of his dissertation for his doctorate in studio art and comparative literature, he covered all its 607 pages in artwork.
Ishaan Sood balances studying abstract algebra and contemplating complex theory with an equally deep commitment to teaching, using humor, creativity, and a student-centered approach to inspire a new generation of math students.
Julia Soojin Cavallaro brings nuanced interpretations to works from early music, which spans the medieval through Baroque periods. She has performed with the world-renowned Handel and Haydn Society among others.
View now.tufts.edu to read full profiles on some of our exceptional students.
10.
Capital Improvement
A number of capital improvement projects on campus have progressed over the
Aquatics Center
Tufts University has announced plans to bui state-of-the-art, Olympic-sized aquatics ce by fall 2028, creating a facility for its swimm and diving teams while expanding recreatio and wellness programming for the broa campus and local communities.
11.
Blakely Hall Following a comprehensive renovation, Tufts University has reopened the historic Blakeley Hall, preserving its 1920s red-brick exterior while transforming the former graduate student residence into a modern, energy-efficient, and fully accessible home for 120 undergraduate sophomores.
ts
e past year.
ild a enter ming onal ader
Bacon Hall Following an extensive renovation, Bacon Hall has reopened on Boston Avenue, featuring state-of-the-art teaching and research laboratories designed to foster collaboration between the Departments of Biology and Earth and Climate Sciences. The building is currently being outfitted with a coral reef system, a tropical room, a saltwater room, and an experimental space for the lab of marine ecologist and Associate Professor of Biology Randi Rotjan.
Pachyderm Place Tufts University’s new 660-bed residence hall under construction on Boston Avenue, has achieved pre-certification from the Passive House Institute, recognizing its all-electric, high-performance design that drastically reduces energy demand while optimizing indoor air quality and comfort.
12.
Strategic Pla lan n In early 2025, A&S began a new strategic plan to position the school for success in the future.
Initial goals of the plan include: •
Through a collaborative process, develop a crisp and unique articulation of our identity that is easily recognizable and allows us to stand out among our peers as a liberal arts school in an R1 institution and the only New England Small College Athletic Conference school in the Association of American Universities.
•
Elevate graduate education, research, and scholarship within A&S.
•
Design curricular and co-curricular experiences and wrap-around services to ensure we are an engine for student success and that we are educating students who will be innovative scholars, engaged global citizens, and responsible and empathetic leaders.
•
•
13.
Develop an organizational structure that will allow for optimal collaboration and effectively and nimbly respond to change.
Focus Areas
School Identity
Research and Scholarship
Undergraduate Curriculum and Co-Curriculum
The Future of Graduate Education
Support students, faculty, and staff through important changes by building community and trust. Student Success
Read more about our goals and progress. Organization and Collaboration
n
14.
A&S Dean’s Office Ballou Hall Tufts University 1 The Green Medford, MA 02155 Contact: news@tufts.edu