Dara N. Byrne

Dara N. Byrne serves as the fourth dean of William E. Macaulay Honors College, one of 25 colleges in the City University of New York (CUNY) system. Reporting to the Chancellor of CUNY, the dean is the chief academic and administrative leader of the Macaulay Honors College and sits as a member of the CUNY Council of Presidents.

Byrne has two decades of experience as a professor, researcher, and higher education leader with expertise in developing innovative and enterprising student success programs. Prior to Macaulay, she served as Associate Provost for Undergraduate Retention and Dean of Undergraduate Studies at John Jay College (CUNY) from 2016-2022. In this role, she developed several student-focused initiatives that are credited with raising the college’s graduation rate by 16% in five years.

Byrne holds a PhD in rhetoric and intercultural communication from Howard University and two master’s degrees—one in emergency management from John Jay College and the other in English language and literature from Carleton University. She also earned her B.A. in sociology and English at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.

In 2009, she was a recipient of John Jay College’s first Distinguished Teaching Prize. Her research spans the social sciences, and she has published widely on civil rights history. A specialist in critical language studies, intercultural communication, and African Diaspora studies, Byrne is committed to pursuing research projects that positively impact diasporan communities.