Dr. Sabrina C. Agarwal, Professor and recent Chair of the Department of Anthropology, has been appointed interim Dean of the Undergraduate Studies Division in UC Berkeley’s College of Letters & Science.
The Indian American professor’s term will run from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027, according to a university announcement.
“I am thrilled to serve as interim Dean and excited to support the Division’s many academic programs and initiatives,” said Agarwal.
Agarwal will take over from Executive Dean Jennifer Johnson-Hanks who is moving to a new role as Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor at UC Santa Cruz in January 2027.
Originally from Canada, Agarwal received her BA, MSc and PhD from the University of Toronto and completed postdoctoral training at McMaster University before joining UC Berkeley in 2004.
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In 2023, Agarwal became chair of the Department of Anthropology, a program with an illustrious history at UC Berkeley that has long been ranked among the top five in the United States.
As a biological anthropologist and bioarchaeologist, her research focuses on bioethics, and sex- and gender-related changes in bone quantity and quality, and the relationship of those changes to social identity and inequality, embodiment, developmental plasticity, disability, and health.
Her extensive departmental leadership roles also include serving as Faculty Graduate Advisor, Faculty Advisor for GSI Affairs, Faculty Undergraduate Advisor, Faculty Equity Advisor, and Curriculum Committee Chair. Throughout her tenure, she has maintained an active research program with robust graduate and undergraduate training.
In addition to her leadership roles within the college, Agarwal also served as a Special Advisor to former Chancellor Carol Christ, a member of the UC Berkeley Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Advisory Implementation Committee, and on the Commission for the Ethical Treatment of Human Remains (TCETHER) of the American Anthropological Association. Her current research examines the practice and ethics of curation and repatriation of skeletal and ancestral remains, and the history and ethics of eating animals.
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She is founder of the Western Bioarchaeology Group (WeBiG), co-founder and former co-chair of the Bioarchaeology Interest Group in the Society for American Archaeology (SAA), is co-founding Editor of Bioarchaeology International, and serves on the Editorial Board of The Yearbook of Biological Anthropology Championing the Undergraduate Experience.
A widely respected researcher, teacher, and mentor, Agarwal’s interest in the interim dean role stems from her longstanding dedication to undergraduate excellence and student success.
In 2018, she received a competitive Berkeley Collegium teaching grant and in 2020 the Distinguished Teaching Award, the campus’s highest teaching honor. Agarwal also received Berkeley’s Award for Graduate Student Instructor mentorship in 2022.