About Gary Bennett
Gary G. Bennett, Ph.D., serves as Dean of Trinity College of Arts & Sciences at Duke University, where he leads one of the institution’s largest and most comprehensive academic units. Trinity College spans the arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences; educates the majority of Duke’s undergraduates; and supports the university’s largest doctoral population. The college operates at substantial scale, encompassing nearly 1,000 faculty, approximately 600 staff, more than 8,000 students, and an annual operating budget approaching half a billion dollars.
As dean, Bennett is responsible for faculty excellence, financial stewardship, fundraising, capital planning, and long-term academic strategy within a complex research university. During his tenure, the college has added more than 120 faculty across its divisions, implemented Duke’s first undergraduate curriculum revision in more than 25 years, achieved record fundraising with particular emphasis on endowed professorships and facilities renewal, and launched new efforts to strengthen research support and infrastructure.
University-Wide Leadership
From 2018 to 2023, Bennett served as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, providing university-wide leadership for Duke’s highly-regarded undergraduate experience. In that role, he oversaw a 15-unit portfolio spanning advising, academic support, financial aid, study abroad, nationally competitive scholarships, and co-curricular programs. He raised significant philanthropic support to expand undergraduate access and innovation and led efforts to extend affordability and opportunity through initiatives such as DukeLIFE, which supports first-generation and low-income students, and the Initiative for the Carolinas. He co-created QuadEx, a wholesale reimagining of Duke's residential experience, partnered closely with senior leadership and trustees on undergraduate policy, and helped guide the institution through the undergraduate dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Research
Bennett is a professor of psychology and neuroscience, global health, medicine, and nursing, and the founding director of the Duke Digital Health Science Center. A nationally recognized scholar in digital health and behavioral medicine, he has authored nearly 200 peer-reviewed publications and maintained continuous federal research funding for more than two decades. His research helped establish early technology-enabled behavioral interventions and has influenced clinical practice, policy guidance, and large-scale implementation in health systems. This scholarly foundation shapes how he leads institutions, grounding his work in a lived understanding of faculty incentives, disciplinary cultures, and the norms of academic self-governance.
From Ideas to Impact
Alongside his academic leadership, Bennett has founded and successfully exited multiple mission-aligned digital health companies. He is a co-founder of Crimson Health Solutions, which developed digital disease management interventions and was acquired by Health Dialog in 2007, and Scale Down, a digital obesity treatment venutre acquired by Anthem in 2017. He is also a co-founder of Coeus Health, a provider of health application programming interfaces. Across these ventures, he held responsibility for strategy, capitalization, team development, and execution. This operating experience informs his work as a dean, strengthening his ability to evaluate risk, align resources, and translate strategy into action while honoring academic values and culture.
Education and Academic Roles
Bennett began his academic career on the faculties of the Harvard School of Public Health and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute before joining Duke University in 2009. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Morehouse College and his AM and PhD in clinical health psychology from Duke University, where he also completed his clinical internship. He was the Alonzo Smythe Yerby Postdoctoral Fellow in Social Epidemiology at Harvard. He is a proud Duke alumnus, faculty member, and institutional steward.
