James “Jay” T. Hamilton, Department of Communication chair and Stanford Journalism Program director, is set to begin his role as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE) on Jan. 1, 2025.
As vice provost, Hamilton will support over 7,800 undergraduate students and act as a resource for faculty to engage effectively with undergraduates. Hamilton said that his top priorities include listening to the needs of students and faculty, supporting students from different backgrounds and with different learning needs and fostering “transformative” interactions between students and faculty.
“Success in college, and later in life, involves a mix of creativity, optimism, sense of purpose and self-knowledge,” Hamilton wrote in an email to The Daily. “Programs at VPUE are designed to help both students and faculty build learning environments that meet these challenges.”
Hamilton’s appointment comes amid several leadership changes in University administration, including new appointments for the president, provost and Vice Provost of Student Affairs. Following former VPUE Sarah Church’s resignation in October, philosophy professor R. Lanier Anderson stepped in as the interim VPUE in February and will continue his tenure until Hamilton returns from his sabbatical next year.
Many of Hamilton’s colleagues told The Daily that they feel confident in his ability to enhance the undergraduate experience.
Communication professor Fred Turner said that it was “a great time for someone like Jay to be in the mix” amid the administrative transitions. He described Hamilton as “a wonderful guy” and “an incredibly nice, very effective mentor and an extraordinarily effective administrator” during his tenure as department chair.
“There’s a general hunger both in the leadership and in the faculty at-large to focus on issues of public interest, research integrity and the intellectual and personal growth of undergraduate students,” Turner said in an interview. “Jay and the new leadership across the board will be focused on these questions in ways that will really help the undergraduate population.”
Hamilton is a leader who fosters “an atmosphere in which talented and motivated people can thrive,” his long-time colleague and communication lecturer R. B. Brenner wrote in an email to The Daily. He added that Hamilton, the “opposite of a micromanager,” embodied consistency, honesty and openness as a leader.
“I know from many conversations we have had that he thinks deeply about undergraduate education,” Brenner wrote. “More importantly, he doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. He genuinely listens to the diverse views of others.”
Thomas Hayden, director of the master of arts in Earth Systems, Environmental Communication Program, praised Hamilton’s analytical and creative mind.
“He has a keen focus on societal issues and nurtures work with strong service and accountability benefits,” Hayden said. “We can expect a focus on rigorous analytical, critical and imaginative learning under his leadership.”
Hamilton has served as the chair of the Department of Communication since September 2018. During his tenure, he focused on integrating computational tools with traditional communication studies and fostering a multidisciplinary approach that bridges computer science, social science and the humanities.
As VPUE, Hamilton hopes to help Stanford students “see the benefits of combining insights from multiple fields to understand and change the world,” from climate change to criminal justice, he wrote.
Hamilton graduated from Harvard with a bachelor’s degree in economics and government in 1983 and a Ph.D. in economics in 1991. He was awarded Harvard’s Goldsmith Book Prize for “All the News That’s Fit to Sell: How the Market Transforms Information into News,” which examines the economic incentives behind news production.
Jon Krosnick, a communication and political science professor, said that he anticipated that Hamilton’s background will positively influence his approach to undergraduate education.
“Jay thinks about the world through a lens of economics, which gives a structure to the way he approaches any given situation, lending a clarity to it,” Krosnick said in an interview with The Daily.
Communication professor Cheryl Phillips, who has taught journalism at Stanford since 2014, said that Hamilton is “really good at listening to people to understand their goals and how those goals might dovetail with the overall mission of the organization or department.”
Stanford “made the wisest decision possible” in naming him the next VPUE, according to communication lecturer Janine Zacharia, who has also taught alongside Hamilton for over a decade.
“There’s absolutely no one on the planet more qualified and suited for this job,” Zacharia wrote. “I am so excited for Jay, for Stanford and for all the students who will benefit from his leadership, thoughtfulness, kindness and brilliance.”
The selection process for the VPUE was overseen by Provost Jenny Martinez, who assembled several committees seeking student input to ensure that the selected VPUE is “a candidate of the highest caliber who [is] committed to improving the undergraduate experience.”
Communication professor emeritus Theodore Glasser wrote that Hamilton was “genuinely invested in people and their success.”
“Jay Hamilton is kind and caring, quiet and unassuming — and at the same time direct and decisive,” Glasser wrote. “He’ll be a superb addition to Stanford’s central administration.”