Sunita Gupta Kramer, dean of the School of Science at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), has been named provost and dean of the faculty at Franklin & Marshall College. Kramer, who earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from F&M in 1992, begins her F&M responsibilities July 1.

Kramer returns to her alma mater after a nationwide search, succeeding Mary Osirim, who has served as interim provost since January 2023. Kramer arrived at TCNJ in July 2022 and in her time there, she was recognized as a champion of design thinking and interdisciplinary approaches to problem-solving. She often collaborated with TCNJ’s School of Engineering.

Kramer helped secure a $400,000 grant as part of the National Science Foundation’s Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity program, and in the past few months has played a crucial role in establishing TCNJ’s Indoor Agriculture Lab, in which students across campus are contributing ideas to the technical world of indoor farming. She also has supported pathways for transfer students at TCNJ and secured a National Institutes of Health grant of more than $1.3 million to launch the New Jersey Biomed-Bridge Scholars program to support those efforts.  

“Franklin & Marshall shaped both my personal and intellectual journey, and it’s a profound honor to return to my alma mater as provost and dean of the faculty,” Kramer said. “I’m thrilled to collaborate with President-elect Rich and our faculty, staff, and students to support all areas of scholarship and help position F&M for an even brighter future.”

“Franklin & Marshall shaped both my personal and intellectual journey, and it’s a profound honor to return to my alma mater as provost and dean of the faculty. I’m thrilled to collaborate with President-elect Rich and our faculty, staff, and students to support all areas of scholarship and help position F&M for an even brighter future.”

-Sunita Gupta Kramer '92

Photo Credit: Anthony DePrimo

“I am thrilled that Sunita Kramer will be the next provost and dean of the faculty,” added Andrew Rich, who becomes Franklin & Marshall president in July. “During the search, it became clear that she combines the knowledge, experience and judgment to be an outstanding academic leader for F&M. She knows the College and believes in its values and essential mission in higher education. I look forward to having her as a partner for F&M’s next chapter.”

“What a wonderful last hire for me to make here at F&M,” said President Barbara K. Altmann. “We are so eager to welcome Sunita and her family to Lancaster. She is a seasoned leader with the energy and deep understanding of liberal arts education that we were looking for in our next provost and dean of the faculty. It was a pleasure to work with my successor, incoming president Andy Rich, to make what is a very important choice for the College. My only regret is that I won’t get to work with Sunita myself!”

Prior to arriving at TCNJ, Kramer was a faculty member at Rutgers University for 12 years before taking on progressive leadership roles, culminating with being the university’s inaugural associate vice president for research and experiential education. In that role, she coordinated and developed avenues for student research, innovation, experiential learning and external partnerships. She also was the creator and director of Rutgers’ Innovation, Design & Entrepreneurship Academy, a four-year program integrating research, design and entrepreneurial thinking into the undergraduate experience.

Photo Credit: Anthony DePrimo

Kramer served as assistant vice provost and was the founding associate academic dean of the Honors College at Rutgers-New Brunswick, where she also developed and led design thinking workshops and contributed to teaching a course on music and the brain. She served for six years as a member of the NIH–National Institute of General Medical Sciences’ Committee on Training and Workforce Development. The Committee designs strategies to increase undergraduate and graduate sponsored research, especially in support of developing a diverse STEM workforce. Previously, she served on the faculty at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where she taught and mentored undergraduate, graduate and medical students, and led a research program funded by grants from NIH, NSF, and the American Heart Association.

After graduating from Franklin & Marshall, Kramer earned her doctorate in molecular and cellular biology from Stony Brook University (N.Y.). She completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied cell guidance mechanisms during early embryonic development. She is married to Joseph J. Kramer, who graduated from F&M in 1990, where the two met as students. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Rutgers’ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and also serves as the director for the master’s degree program in biomedical sciences.