Meet Dr. Keena Arbuthnot

Keena Arbuthnot, PhD, serves as the executive vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, since August 2025. In this role, executive vice president Arbuthnot strategically advances the academic priorities and policies of the university. Also, a Distinguished Professor, she draws from her expertise as a transformational leader and accomplished academic to collaborate with the chancellor-led units across Rutgers to align academic resources and support with institutional goals. Her leadership focuses on data-driven decision making, fosters innovation in learning and scholarship, and champions initiatives that promote student access and success.

As the EVPAA, Dr. Arbuthnot stewards all academic policies and procedures, manages Rutgers’ tenure and promotion and academic program approval processes. She also oversees the libraries; Rutgers Global; Institutional Research and Decision Support; online education services; the University Registrar; disability services; student veterans’ services; Rutgers Statewide; and Rutgers University Press. Additionally, she has oversight for the Office for Research, which combines key functions in research infrastructure, intellectual property, and grants administration universitywide.

Executive Vice President Arbuthnot joined Rutgers from Louisiana State University, where she served as dean of the Graduate School; vice president and chief data officer; and the Joan Pender McManus Distinguished Professor of Education. At LSU, she launched the Office of Data and Strategic Analytics, establishing innovative initiatives such as the AI Data Analytics Fellows and the Presidential Data Analytics Fellows to foster a data-driven culture and advance strategic outcomes across campus. She also previously served as associate vice president of research and economic development at LSU, where she provided strategic oversight for research initiatives across multiple colleges and developed innovative programs for early- and mid-career researchers. Her administrative acumen also included service as special advisor to the president on the COVID-19 response, where she led LSU's comprehensive pandemic response and chaired the Health and Medical Advisory Committee.

EVP Arbuthnot’s scholarly expertise centers on educational measurement and assessment, with a particular focus on issues of equity and fairness in educational testing. She is the sole author of two books, the most recent being Global Perspective on Educational Testing: Examining Fairness, High-Stakes, and Policy Reform. Dr. Arbuthnot is recognized nationally and internationally for her research on standardized testing and assessments, test fairness issues, and STEM education and achievement. Her research portfolio includes participation in more than $30 million in funded projects with support from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and the American Educational Research Association, among others.

Dr. Arbuthnot received a PhD in educational psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, specializing in educational measurement, applied statistics, and program evaluation. She holds an MEd in educational psychology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a BS in mathematics from the University of Central Missouri.

Following completion of her education, Dr. Arbuthnot became a lecturer on education and a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Education. She began her career as a high school mathematics teacher and acknowledges that her experiences in the classroom continue to have a significant impact on her research and teaching.