Dean & SMFA Leadership Team

SMFA is part of Tufts University’s School of Arts and Sciences, which offers more than 70 undergraduate and 60 graduate programs spanning 40+ departments and programs. Our leadership team is a diverse, talented group of educators and administrators committed to advancing the study of art.

Sarah Biggers, Continuing Education

Sarah manages SMFA at Tufts' part-time portfolio of courses, workshops, and certificate programs as well as the pre-college summer programming for high school artists.

Lisa Bynoe

Lisa Bynoe, MFA Program Administration

Lisa advises MFA students on their academic schedules and in navigating their overall experience at Tufts. She also oversees the Mission Hill building, which houses MFA and Post-Bacc student studios.

Terre Daly, Finance

Terre has been a member of the Tufts University community for 35 years and oversees SMFA at Tufts’ financials and supports its administrative needs.

Laura DaRos

Laura DaRos, Student Affairs

Laura coordinates student resources, support, and programming for SMFA undergraduate and graduate students. She also assists SMFA students with the Medical Leave and Student Conduct Resolution Procedure, and advises students on issues related to their artistic, intellectual, and co-curricular development.

Caleb Davis

Caleb Davis, Administration & Operations

Caleb oversees all non-academic operations at SMFA at Tufts working closely with the larger university’s operations group.

Dina Deitsch

Dina Deitsch, Tufts University Art Galleries

Dina oversees operations and curatorial efforts at the Tufts University Art Galleries on both the SMFA and Medford/Somerville campuses, as well as exhibition spaces across the university.

Thomas Duncan

Thomas Duncan, Admissions

Thomas oversees undergraduate and graduate admissions at SMFA at Tufts.

Leah Gadd

Leah Gadd, Undergraduate Advising

Leah oversees the academic progress of undergraduate students pursuing the BFA degree, and advises students pursuing the Combined Degree on the BFA portion of their studies.

Meredith Giesta

Meredith Giesta, Marketing

Meredith provides marketing and strategy support to increase brand awareness and enrollment for SMFA at Tufts.

Nate Harrison

Nate Harrison, Dean ad interim and Dean of Faculty

As dean ad interim of SMFA at Tufts, Nate oversees all operations at the school, as well as the Tufts University Art Galleries, and the university’s relationship with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. As dean of faculty, Nate oversees the school’s academic operations. He is also a Professor of the Practice as well as an artist and writer working at the intersection of intellectual property, cultural production, and the formation of creative processes in modern media.

Gregory Mahoney

Gregory J. Mahoney, Studio Operations and Educational Technology

Greg manages the SMFA studio managers, studio facilities, and associated technology.

Darin Murphy

Darin Murphy, W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. Library

Darin manages the staff, special collections, and programming at the SMFA library.

Patrick O'Brien

Patrick O'Brien, Development

Patrick is responsible for developing and implementing strategies to engage those with an interest in supporting the SMFA at Tufts—through annual and major gifts and through the SMFA Art Sale.

Ariana Shirzadi

Ariana Shirzadi, Communications

Ariana leads communications efforts for SMFA managing the website, social media channels, and editorial and coordinates public relations.

Laurel Hoffer

Laurel Wero, Faculty and Academic Affairs

Laurel oversees all faculty and curricular policies and processes in close collaboration with the dean of the school and the dean of faculty.