main content Faculty TCK: Julio de Paula

Dean of The College of Arts and Sciences

I was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and came to the United States when I was 17 years old. Mine is the traditional immigrant story: my father, mother, younger brother, and I came to this country in search of a brighter future. My parents did not receive much formal education but realized that education was the key to success. Indeed, coming to the United States opened doors to higher education that would have remained closed for my brother and me in Brazil. My brother and I graduated from Harrison High School (Harrison, New Jersey) and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. I continued my studies of chemistry at Yale University, from which I received a PhD degree. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Michigan State University, I joined the faculty of Haverford College, in Pennsylvania, where I eventually rose to the rank of Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Marian E. Koshland Integrated Natural Sciences Center. After 16 years at Haverford, the time seemed right for a big change and we--my spouse Valerie, my daughters Sarah and Meghan, and I--decided to join the Lewis & Clark community, which I serve as Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and Professor of Chemistry.