Campus Directory

Pronouns he, him, his, his, himself

Division Graduate Studies Division

Department/College/Unit Graduate Studies Division
Anthropology Department

Title Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies

Affiliation Faculty

Faculty Type Regular Faculty

Primary Office Location Kerr Hall
289

Mail Stop No Mailstop

Biography, Education and Training

Peter F. Biehl is Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), where he leads the Graduate Division and its 360-degree approach to graduate education—spanning recruitment, admissions, mentoring, student success, professional and career development, and alumni engagement. He launched UCSC’s Implementation Task Force for Inclusive Excellence in Graduate Education, which developed a new 5/2-year doctoral and MFA student funding model grounded in the principles of student success, well-being, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Its recommendations were incorporated into Leading the Change: UCSC’s Strategic Plan under the initiative Envisioning Graduate Education for the Future. He currently co-leads the HSRU Alliance Affinity Group of Graduate Deans.

A professor of anthropology, he has taught at universities in Buffalo, Halle, Freiburg, Cambridge, and Paris. He received his Ph.D. from the University of the Saarland, Germany, and his research explores climate change in the past, museums, and archaeological heritage. He is the author or editor of 10 books and more than 100 articles, book chapters, exhibitions, and performances.

Before joining UCSC in 2021, he held multiple leadership roles at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), including Institute Director, Department Chair, and Associate Dean for International Graduate Education and Enrollment. He also chaired campus-wide committees on course evaluation, curriculum resources, and the inclusion and engagement of international students. A first-generation college student himself, he has made expanding access to higher education his guiding principle for more than 25 years.

His contributions have been recognized with the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Internationalization and UB’s Distinguished Postdoctoral Mentor Award. He is a Fellow of the American Council on Education (ACE), the Society of Antiquaries of London, and the German Archaeological Institute.