Mary E. Graham, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Sport Management, has been named Falk College associate dean of faculty affairs effective Jan. 2, 2024. This newly created leadership position reports to Falk College Dean Jeremy Jordan and is dedicated to faculty development and success. In this role, Graham will guide all Falk College efforts related to faculty development—from hiring to retirement—and work closely with University offices and leadership in Academic Affairs, University Counsel, Equal Opportunity Compliance, Human Resources and Office of Research.
Mary Graham, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Sport Management, has been named Falk College associate dean of faculty affairs.
“I am excited to appoint Dr. Graham to this new role for Falk College,” says Jeremy S. Jordan, dean of Falk College. “I am very confident that she will be able to further the support and development of our faculty based on her wealth of professional experiences and academic expertise.”
As Falk College associate dean of faculty affairs, Graham will work with department chairs to develop strategic hiring plans for faculty and oversee the successful execution of faculty searches. She will participate in faculty review processes, including recommendations for contract renewals and promotion and tenure, and manage operational aspects of faculty affairs. Together with Falk College leadership, Graham will steer the college toward enhanced faculty research and teaching excellence.
“Falk College has an exceptionally talented, diverse faculty with unparalleled dedication to the student experience and the creation of new knowledge,” says Graham. “I am honored to serve as associate dean of faculty affairs in service to my faculty colleagues and the linked missions of Falk College and Syracuse University. I look forward to collaborating with our visionary dean, Jeremy Jordan, and his leadership team on strategic and operational faculty matters.”
Graham joined the Falk College faculty in 2012 and is also affiliated faculty in the Whitman School of Management. She teaches applied courses in organizational behavior and strategic human resource management, as well as diversity in sport organizations at the undergraduate, graduate and executive levels. An expert in gender disparities in employment, she has conducted numerous American Association of University Women salary negotiations workshops for students since 2009.
In 2022, Graham was named Syracuse University’s faculty athletics representative (FAR) to the NCAA and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). In this capacity she serves as a key advisor to Chancellor Kent Syverud and Provost Gretchen Ritter on policy proposals and issues affecting student-athletes’ academic and overall wellbeing, working closely with Tommy Powell, assistant provost for student-athlete academic development; Athletic Director John Wildhack; and their teams of professionals. Graham chairs the Faculty Oversight Committee on Athletics, which reviews student-athlete academic data and conducts exit interviews of departing student-athletes.
She previously served as a Syracuse University Provost Faculty Fellow from 2018 to 2020, where she worked with the provost and University Senate to develop and implement campuswide shared competencies for undergraduate students. Graham has been a University senator since 2018, and she currently serves on the Senate Committee on Athletic Policy.
Prior to joining Syracuse University, Graham held faculty positions in business schools at Clarkson University, George Washington University and Georgia State University. She has served as a visiting scholar at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, National Central University in Taiwan and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. She also has prior work experience with several members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Graham has published extensively and has been widely cited in the areas of human resource management (HRM), public policy and employment discrimination, gender in employment and HRM in supply chains. She is currently studying the equal employment opportunity transparency among professional sport teams, and the impact of concussions on player misconduct.
Graham is on the Editorial Board of the journal Human Resource Management (Wiley), where she previously served as an associate editor. Her professional memberships include the Society for Human Resource Management and the Academy of Management, where she serves on the executive committee of the Research Methods Division.
A former CPA, Graham has a B.S. in accounting from Le Moyne College and work experience in public accounting and human resource management. Graham earned both M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University, specializing in human resource management, organizational behavior and gender studies.
