Granfield named vice provost for faculty affairs

Robert Granfield, professor in the Department of Sociology and an affiliated scientist at UB’s Research Institute on Addictions, has been named vice provost for faculty affairs. His appointment, announced by Provost Charles F. Zukoski, is effective Oct. 1.

Granfield succeeds Lucinda Finley, who left the administrative position at the end of the spring semester to resume her faculty role as a teacher and scholar in the UB Law School. A member of the law faculty since 1990, Finley is Frank Raichle Professor of Trial and Appellate Advocacy.

In his new role as vice provost, Granfield will serve as a member of Zukoski’s senior leadership team. Among his duties will be coordinating the university’s promotion and tenure process; welcoming and orienting new faculty to UB; assisting deans, department chairs and faculty with issues associated with hiring and retention; building programs to orient new department chairs and improve their management skills; facilitating the nomination process for national, internal and SUNY awards; and partnering with the vice provost for equity and inclusion to develop proactive strategies for enhancing faculty diversity.   

In announcing Granfield’s appointment, Zukoski noted that Granfield’s “record of leadership and demonstrated ability to work with faculty across disciplines make him an outstanding choice for the role of vice provost for faculty affairs.:

Granfield was a co-founder and former director of UB’s Civic Engagement and Public Policy strategic strength, a broad initiative with participants from 11 of UB’s 12 decanal units and the hub for UB’s community-based research activities. He was founded and was director of UB’s Institute for the Study of Law and Urban Justice.

Moreover, he has served in numerous leadership positions within his department, the College of Arts and Sciences, and university, including service as chair of the Department of Sociology from 2006-12, a role, Zukoski pointed out, that has given him direct experience in faculty recruiting, mentoring and promotion and tenure issues.   

A noted scholar in the areas of law and society as well as addiction studies, Granfield was recruited to UB from the University of Denver in 2004. He is the author or editor of six books and more than 80 articles, book chapters and reviews. His research has been supported with grants from the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Woodrow Wilson Foundation and the Law School Admissions Council, among others.

He has been a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School, Middlebury College and, most recently, at the University of Ottawa, where he served as the Fulbright Research Chair in International Humanitarian Law and Social Justice.