Selma Botman - Academic Career

Academic Career

After Harvard, Botman began her career in education in 1987 when she taught in the political science department at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. She was the Director of the International Studies Program from 1994 to 1996.

She moved on to being Provost at the University of Massachusetts before becoming the Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost of City University of New York (CUNY), overseeing twenty three academic units over the five boroughs. She says that she loved being close to her daughters, who live together in New York City and work in the fashion industry, and the excitement of Manhattan, stating "I really wanted to come back to a campus, because I wanted to be closer to faculty and students."

When her younger daughter, Megan, was attending Bates College she was convinced, along with her husband, to visit Peak's Island. There the two bought a house and when, two months later, the job of University of Southern Maine President opened up, she applied for it.

Botman is a specialist in modern Middle Eastern politics. She has taught in the history PhD program at the CUNY Graduate Center and the history department at The City College of New York.

Botman has been an Affiliate in Research at Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies and a member of Middle East Studies Association, the American Association of University Women, the American Association for Higher Education & Accreditation, and the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.

Botman was a Special Assistant to the Chancellor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and as Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Massachusetts system. She was a tenured full professor in the Departments of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Boston and Lowell campuses.