Paul Kelton

Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Policies
Professor and David Lion Gardiner Chair, Department of History

Paul brings a wealth of administrative experience to the role, previously serving as associate dean for the humanities in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas, where he also served as chair of History, and as chair of Germanic Languages and Literature. At Stony Brook he served as interim chair of the Department of History and associate dean for academic affairs.

A renowned scholar of Native American and medical history, Paul is the author of Epidemics and Enslavement: Biological Catastrophe in the Native Southeast, 1492-1715 (Nebraska 2007); Cherokee Medicine, Colonial Germs: An Indigenous Nation's Fight Against Smallpox, 1518-1824 (Oklahoma 2015); and Hidden Terrors: The Scourge of Cholera in Jackson's America (Oxford 2026). His peer-reviewed articles have appeared in Ethnohistory, William and Mary Quarterly, Journal of American History, Journal of Southern History, and The Journal of the European Society for the History of Science. He teaches a range of courses on Native North America, the United States, and Global History of Public Health.

Paul's role at the Dean's office includes: 

• Provide guidance on faculty affairs matters in accordance with CAS, Provost, and SUNY policies and procedures

• Liaise with departments, CAS, and the Provost office to review and evaluate promotion and tenure files, sabbatical, Title F, and research assignment requests, reappointment files, expedited tenure, and Toll Professor requests 

• Partner with the Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Community to oversee new faculty hiring, including meeting with finalist job candidates across all CAS departments
• Dean’s Office contact for personnel matters in Anthropology, Africana Studies, Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Undergraduate Biology, Chemistry, Ecology and Evolution, Economics, Geosciences, Linguistics, Mathematics, Neurobiology and Behavior, Physics & Astronomy, and Psychology

Email: Paul.Kelton@stonybrook.edu