Rate My Professor Behzad Mortazavi

Behzad Mortazavi serves as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Biology at Syracuse University, a position he has held since July 2023. In this role, he leads the university’s largest and most academically diverse college, which includes more than 380 faculty members across 17 disciplines and nine centers and institutes. Mortazavi has developed a five-year Academic Strategic Plan centered on Climate Change and the Environment; Health and Well-being; Culture, Community and Change; and Innovative Technologies. Under his leadership, the college has established new research centers, including the Institute for Quantum and Information Science, the Center for Behavioral Health Research and Innovation, and the Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and Astrophysics; created endowed professorships such as the Kathy and Stan Walters Endowed Professor of Quantum Science and the Backer Professor of Jewish Studies; launched the new Department of Human Development and Family Science; and achieved record student retention rates. He has also formed high-performance leadership teams, inaugurated the A&S Research and Scholarship Gala, and advanced initiatives supporting faculty research, student experiential learning, and community partnerships.

Prior to joining Syracuse University, Mortazavi was Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alabama from 2018 to 2023, where he oversaw more than 40 faculty members, nearly 1,900 undergraduate students, and over 100 graduate students. During his tenure, he hired 19 faculty members, led a two-year strategic planning process, established a diversity, equity, and inclusivity committee, managed the University of Alabama Arboretum and Tanglewood Biological Field Station, and oversaw a department that generated more than $6 million in sponsored research annually. Mortazavi’s research specializes in hydrology and biogeochemistry, with a focus on biogeochemical cycles in terrestrial and marine ecosystems and the impacts of urbanization and climate change on watersheds. He has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and secured over $2 million in federal research funding. Mortazavi earned his Ph.D. in biological oceanography from Florida State University and holds degrees in biology, marine ecology, and biological oceanography from the Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie in Paris, France. He previously served as a member of the research faculty at Florida State University and as a program director for the Division of Environmental Biology, Ecosystem Sciences Cluster at the National Science Foundation.