Tiffanie Ting Appointed House Dean in Cabot

Tiffanie L. Ting, who served as acting dean in Currier House last spring and as a tutor there since 2008, was appointed as Cabot House’s new dean on July 17.

A graduate of the University of Toronto, Ting is currently a doctoral student at the Graduate School of Education and holds a teaching appointment in the Sociology Department for this term.

“I look forward to collaborating with students as well as the House staff,” Ting said in an interview this summer, adding that she hopes to “learn about what matters most to students and how to support that.”

Ting’s arrival in Cabot House has coincided with the transition of its co-master, Rakesh Khurana, into the College deanship. Khurana began his term in University Hall on July 1, shortly before Ting’s appointment.

Ting said that she has a broad array of academic interests that include qualitative research design, the sociology of education, and the sociology of art.

Cabot House Co-Master Stephanie Khurana highlighted Ting’s experience and “openness to understanding the Cabot culture” as some of her strengths.

“We are lucky that she has six years of experience as a resident tutor,” Stephanie Khurana said, noting Ting’s work as a senior tutor, arts tutor, and as a sophomore advisor. “She has a holistic perspective of students and really looks forward to getting to know every student.”

Khurana also said that Ting’s academic work at the Graduate school of Education, where she studies advising, will position her to help students weigh their career trajectories, and that her passion for arts may help her contribute to the Third Space—a student-run art studio in Cabot.

After receiving a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Education in 2002, Ting worked as an education fellow at the deCordova Museum in Lincoln, Mass., before working at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston as its museum educator.

She served as the director of public programs and education at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery in Ontario, Canada. Since 2002, Ting has also worked as a teaching fellow for classes at the Graduate School of Education.

Ting takes the place of Emily W. Stokes-Rees, who left Harvard earlier this summer after just two years as resident dean. A report released this summer included a name change for the position, formerly known as Allston Burr Resident Dean, as well as a requirement that all House-level deans have a Ph.D.

—Staff writer Tyler S. Olkowski can be reached at tyler.olkowski@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @OlkowskiTyler.