A New Dean for Arts & Sciences

When Daryl Maeda arrived on the University of Washington campus as the Katherine and John Simpson Endowed Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences in early July, it was a homecoming of sorts.

Maeda spent the 2001-2002 academic year at the UW as an acting assistant professor in the UW Department of History. More recently, he spent time in Seattle while researching a book about legendary actor and martial artist Bruce Lee, who briefly studied at the UW. Now Maeda will be leading the UW’s largest college and serving as a professor of American Ethnic Studies.

Maeda comes to his new role with extensive leadership experience, having served as the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder . In that role, he managed an annual budget of more than $250 million and led a collaborative process that created the College’s budget allocation model. Under his leadership, UC-Boulder’s College of Arts & Sciences established new records for first-year retention and six-year graduate rates and set a record for the highest annual fundraising in the college’s history. 

Prior to his UC-Boulder deanship, Maeda served in other leadership roles there, including chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies, associate dean for student success in the College of Arts and Sciences, and dean and vice provost of undergraduate education.

“Dr. Maeda brings a wealth of experience to all aspects of the role of Katherine and John Simpson Endowed Dean for the College of Arts & Sciences, including a deep commitment to shared governance,” says UW provost Tricia R. Serio, who led the University’s search for its new Arts & Sciences dean. “Throughout the selection process, Dr. Maeda repeatedly elevated the broad strengths of the College of Arts & Sciences, and the students, staff, and faculty who define them, as foundational to leading the path forward through a framework of opportunity for all.”

Throughout his career, Maeda has been a professor of ethnic studies and an interdisciplinary cultural historian with a focus on Asian American studies and comparative ethnic studies. He has published two books and numerous articles and book chapters on Asian American activism in the 1960s and 1970s. His most recent book, a cultural history of Bruce Lee, was published in 2022.  

“I am deeply honored to serve the College of Arts & Sciences and grateful for the opportunity to partner with its exceptional faculty, students, and staff,” Maeda said when he was appointed. “Together, we will build on the College’s distinguished tradition of discovery, creativity, and public impact while advancing an inclusive and inspiring vision for the future.”

Maeda succeeds Dianne Harris, who completed her service as dean in June and reflected on her five years leading the College of Arts & Sciences in a May 2026 Perspectives newsletter article.