Ellise M. D. LaMotte

As Associate Dean of Student Diversity, Inclusion, and Success, Ellise leads the Division of Student Diversity and Inclusion, which is shared by both the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering. The Division of Student Diversity and Inclusion includes the Center for STEM Diversity and the six Identity-based Centers: Africana Center, Asian-American Center, FIRST Resource Center, Latinx Center, LGBT Center, and Women’s Center. Both individually and collectively, the centers seek to promote understanding, community, and belonging across the Tufts communities. Ellise works on issues of diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice across the undergraduate student experience, from matriculation to graduation in collaboration with Admissions, Student Affairs, Student Services, Undergraduate Education and Advising and many other student-facing departments. She is also a Research Assistant Professor in the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO) and an Institute for Research on Learning and Instruction (IRLI) collaborating staff member.

Ellise joined Tufts in 2018 as Director of the Center for STEM Diversity, where she was responsible for supporting a diverse population of students as they pursued undergraduate and graduate STEM degrees. Ellise led the Center’s strategic direction and infrastructure, implemented programmatic offerings, and secured resources in support of the academic and personal success of students from underrepresented groups. She participated in and utilized best-practice research on broadening underrepresented student participation in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Prior to Tufts, Ellise was the Director of Academic Services at Olin College of Engineering and worked there with the Provost and faculty on financial, operational, and diversity and inclusion initiatives. Previously she spent three years with Babson College's Graduate School of Business Admissions office as the Director of Operations, where she managed reporting, event planning, and recruitment outreach efforts. Ellise was also the Director of the Commonwealth Institute’s Women of Ethnic Diversity Initiative, supporting women entrepreneurs as they grew their businesses by recruiting women, implementing programs, and raising funds. Ellise holds a PhD in Education from University of Massachusetts, Boston.