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Updated: May 1, 2023

Colby College hires an MIT senior leader with Maine ties as dean

Gustavo Burkett portrait Photo Courtesy / Colby College Gustavo Burkett, who currently serves in a senior leadership position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been named the next dean of Colby College following a national search.
By Renee Cordes
Colby College in Waterville currently has 2,200 students from 45 states and 63 countries, and the college offers 57 majors and 36 minors.
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Colby College has tapped a senior leader at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with strong Maine ties to serve as its next dean, starting in July.

Originally from Argentina, Gustavo Burkett currently serves as senior associate dean of diversity and community involvement at MIT. His appointment at the Waterville liberal arts school follows a national search. 

He succeeds Karlene Burrell-McRae, who was named dean of the undergraduate college at Bryn Mawr College, in Bryn Mawr, Pa., to be closer to her home in Philadelphia.

At Colby, Burkett will have broad oversight of the student experience and will work to fully integrate the college’s academic and campus life programs, the school said. He will work in partnership with faculty on the academic experience and with the provost and other senior leaders on campus-wide diversity and residential life initiatives.

“Gustavo impressed us with his deep and genuine commitment to the student experience and his track record of making campuses places where all students can thrive,” said Colby President David A. Greene. “He is an exceptional team builder who knows from firsthand experience the critical and rewarding role the dean of the college division plays in furthering the mission of the College. He does this all with a wonderful combination of joy and intelligence. We can’t wait to welcome him to campus this summer.”

Colby currently has 2,200 students from 45 states and 63 countries, and the college offers 57 majors and 36 minors.

Burkett's ties to Maine stem from his time as a high school exchange student from South America.

In college, he returned to the Pine Tree State complete his undergraduate work at the University of Maine, graduating in 2002. He earned his master’s degree in higher education administration and educational leadership from the University of Maine in 2005 and expects to receive his doctorate in higher education and social justice this year from the University of Massachusetts-Boston. 

“I am beyond excited to become part of the Colby family," Burkett said. "Walking across campus just a few weeks ago, I saw students laughing and playing outdoors, studying in groups, sitting in the student center, and walking alongside professors. The energy I felt on campus that day, and the fantastic conversations I had with faculty, staff, and students, are significant manifestations of the culture and spirit of Colby College. I look forward to becoming engaged in and being part of this rich and vibrant community.”

Burkett joined MIT's senior leadership team in 2017. His responsibilities include providing strategic direction to a broad set of initiatives that advance community involvement programs through the oversight of five multipurpose buildings, more than 500 student organizations, and 50 staff members.

He has worked in leadership positions at MIT, Boston College, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the University of Maine.

During his nearly five years at UMaine, Burkett served as assistant director of campus activities for student organizations and Greek life and then director of campus activities and student engagement, according to his LinkedIn profile.

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