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Fatma Mili, Ph.D., is Interim Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Montclair State University (since January 2026) and Interim Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (since July 2025).
Dr. Mili is a leader in higher education focused on building academic communities that prioritize both excellence and equity. As Interim Provost of Montclair State University, she oversees the academic vision and operations for New Jersey's second-largest public university, a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) of 24,000 students, a Carnegie R2 research university, and one of only 25 U.S. institutions to earn the inaugural Carnegie Leadership for Public Purpose Classification.
A computer scientist by training, Dr. Mili approaches institutional challenges through a lens of systemic, data-informed change. Her career has centered on envisioning and executing large-scale transformations that strengthen institutions, empower faculty, and expand student opportunity. She views the provost's core role as creating the conditions for every member of the academic community, students, faculty, and staff, to succeed.
Before joining Montclair, Dr. Mili served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Grand Valley State University. During her tenure, she collaborated with deans and faculty to launch strategic initiatives in computing, sustainability, and healthcare education. To meet the evolving needs of students, she led a comprehensive redesign of systems affecting student success, from policies and curricular design to course scheduling and the integration of advising and student services, all with a sharp focus on equitable outcomes. Under her leadership, institutional research funding grew by 40%.
Previously, as the Dean of the College of Computing and Informatics at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Dr. Mili partnered with faculty to grow enrollment by 50% while dramatically increasing diversity, raising the number of women students by 50% and BIPOC students by 37%. The college developed a distinctive focus on "ethical computing for positive impact" and earned the CMD-IT University Award for Retention of Minorities and Students with Disabilities in Computer Science.
Her foundational work in educational innovation began at Purdue University, where she designed and co-led the implementation of the "Purdue Polytechnic." This learner-centered, project-based transformation of STEM education was funded as one of the university’s landmark 10 Big Moves. The initiative contributed directly to the rebranding of the College of Technology as the Purdue Polytechnic Institute and catalyzed a decade of sustained enrollment growth, reversing a prior decline.
She started her career at Oakland University, where she progressed from faculty member to Associate Dean, working on curricular design, educational innovation, and initiatives to advance women in computing and engineering.
Dr. Mili earned her doctorate in Computer Science from Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI), where her research focused on understanding and supporting human decision-making. Her scholarly work includes formal methods in computing, human decision-making, bio-inspired computing, and emergent complex systems. She has published numerous articles and co-authored two books, including Computer Program Construction (Oxford University Press).
Dr. Mili views higher education as essential to personal and social advancement. She brings a unique blend of analytical rigor and humanistic perspective to her leadership, with a deep interest in how technology shapes human systems and how universities can better align their daily practices with their commitments to equity, inclusion, and social purpose.