Dean’s Corner
About Dean Samuel Thomas
Samuel (Sam) William Thomas III ‘00 is the Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences and professor of chemistry. Thomas began his role as dean on January 1, 2026. An experienced leader, he previously served as senior dean of academic affairs and professor of chemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University, supporting departments and programs across the arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
Thomas’s research and scholarship apply principles of physical organic chemistry to develop stimuli-responsive organic materials with impacts in organic electronics and photodynamic therapy. His research group’s work has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Energy.
He has received major awards including the NSF CAREER Award, the DARPA Young Faculty Award, and the 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award. Thomas has published more than 80 peer-reviewed papers, and holds eight patents and patent applications. He has supervised 12 successful PhD student defenses from his laboratory and has taught organic chemistry courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Thomas earned a bachelor of science in chemistry from the University of Rochester in 2000 and a PhD in chemistry from MIT in 2006. He completed postdoctoral work as an American Cancer Society Fellow at Harvard University.