About Dean Biehl
Peter F. Biehl was named the fifth Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate Division on July 1, 2026. Biehl replaced interim dean Jaymi Smith. Gillian Hayes, Frances M. Leslie and Carolyn Boyd served as the division’s third, second and first deans, respectively.
- Student Resources
- About the Dean
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- International Student Resources
Peter F. Biehl
Vice Provost and Dean Peter F. Biehl came to UC Irvine from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he served as Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies and Professor of Anthropology since 2021. Prior to UC Santa Cruz, he spent 13 years at the University at Buffalo, where he served in a range of academic and administrative roles, including Department Chair, Institute Director, and Associate Dean for International Graduate Education and Enrollment in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Under his leadership, UCSC transformed graduate education with a comprehensive approach spanning recruitment, admissions, mentoring, student success, professional and career development, and alumni engagement. During his tenure, UCSC launched an Implementation Task Force for Inclusive Excellence in Graduate Education and established a Graduate Student Support Model to help programs align cohort size, funding and time-to-degree expectations.
At the systemwide level, as convener of the UC Council of Graduate Deans and a representative to the UC Academic Senate’s Coordinating Committee on Graduate Affairs, he helped strengthen UC-wide coordination to address issues related to labor relations, federal funding, and legislative advocacy for graduate education and research.
Vice Provost and Dean Biehl is an internationally recognized archaeologist who has taught at universities in Buffalo, Cambridge, Paris, Freiburg and Halle. His archaeological research explores climate change, and he has also published widely on museums and archaeological heritage. He is the author or editor of 11 books and more than 120 articles, book chapters, exhibitions and performances.
Beyond UC, he serves as founding Chair of the graduate dean group of the Alliance for Hispanic-Serving Research Universities. He is a Fellow of the American Council on Education, the Society of Antiquaries of London and the German Archaeological Institute. His work has been recognized with several awards and honors, including the University at Buffalo’s Distinguished Postdoctoral Mentor Award and the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Internationalization.
A first-generation college student himself, he has made expanding access to higher education a guiding principle throughout his career, and his record of academic leadership and commitment to graduate student success will be assets as he leads the Graduate Division into its next chapter.