The University has hired Mark Brimhall-Vargas as the first chief diversity officer and vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, University President Ronald Liebowitz wrote in an email to students, faculty and staff on Wednesday.

Brimhall-Vargas, who previously served as CDO and associate provost at Tufts University, will begin the new position at the start of next semester on Jan. 11, 2017. As the University’s first CDO, he will work closely with all members of the community, including students, administrators, faculty and trustees and will report directly to Liebowitz, according to the email. In this position, he will help to “coordinate and advise on activities in departments and academic programs throughout the University to develop, integrate and articulate Brandeis’ commitments to a more diverse and inclusive community,” the email explained.

In an email to the Justice, Brimhall-Vargas noted that he is excited to join the Brandeis community because during his visit he “saw a significant amount of authentic commitment to making Brandeis an example of what an equitable and accessible campus really looks like.”

“That inspires me,” he added.

One of the first things Brimhall-Vargas said he hopes to accomplish is understanding the needs of the community through meetings with faculty, staff and students. “It’s important that I come in with a ‘listen and learn’ approach because each university is unique,” Brimhall-Vargas wrote. “Brandeis strikes me as particularly unique in its work and concern for issues of social justice.”

“In essence, I see myself in partnership with the entire Brandeis community as we create something new,” Brimhall-Vargas added.

Brimhall-Vargas noted that at Tufts, he focused mostly on “transparency of decision-making and data, creating university-wide search and selection policies for faculty searches, and implementing changes to the university that were brought about through discourse and engagement,” all of which he hopes he can bring to Brandeis.

Prior to his work at Tufts, Brimhall-Vargas worked for 17 years in various positions related to diversity and inclusion, including in the position of deputy CDO at the University of Maryland, College Park. The email also notes that he holds a doctoral degree in social foundations of education from the University of Maryland, College Park, a masters in public policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College.

His selection is a culmination of the University’s search to hire a diversity officer on campus as promised after the Ford Hall 2015 movement last year. Last spring, the University began its search process by creating a search committee to lead the process. This fall, the committee selected four finalists, and each candidate spent time on campus this semester to hold open forums and meet with students.

The search committee knew that Brimhall-Vargas has “the experience, intellectual heft and people skills needed to move us forward,” said CDO search committee leader Prof. Irv Epstein (CHEM), as quoted in Liebowitz’s email.

In a statement emailed to the Justice, Liebowitz noted that he is excited for Brimhall-Vargas to join the University community. “He has the experience, enthusiasm and dedication to advance our commitment to make our campus more diverse and inclusive,” Liebowitz wrote. “Throughout the interviews many noted that he listened and engaged well and did not shy away from the challenging aspects of this new position at Brandeis. He has a proven record of understanding how to effectively implement change in an academic setting.”