President Karim Ismaili

Dr. Karim Ismaili is the seventh president of Eastern Connecticut State University. A first-generation immigrant college student raised by a single mother, he brings nearly three decades of experience in higher education to Eastern. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Ismaili served as Executive Vice President and Provost at Bridgewater State University (BSU) in Massachusetts. He has also held academic and administrative roles at Radford University (VA), St. John’s University (NY), Kennesaw State University (GA), and at Toronto Metropolitan University (Ontario). Earlier in his career, Dr. Ismaili was a policy and research advisor on criminal justice issues in the Government of Canada.

Dr. Ismaili has promoted student success, fostered academic innovation, advanced educational equity and social justice, reimagined enrollment strategies, and secured substantial funding in support of institutional goals. His tenure at BSU was marked by the development of new degree programs tailored to workforce needs, successful accreditation reviews, and the establishment of strong academic pathways with other institutions, particularly for low-income, first-generation, and minoritized students. He was also one of the key leaders that guided the university’s successful response to the global pandemic. True to his commitment to a liberal arts education, Dr. Ismaili fostered an environment for the constructive exchange of ideas and instilled a deep respect for the values of free speech and democracy as evidenced by the creation of the Bartlett Endowed Chair in Free Speech and Expression and the Bartlett Endowed Professorship for Civic Education and Engagement.

A scholar of crime policy and social theory, Dr. Ismaili holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario, a Master of Philosophy in Criminology from the University of Cambridge, and a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology from Simon Fraser University. He was the editor of and a contributor to widely read works such as U.S. Criminal Justice Policy: A Contemporary Reader and Canadian Criminal Justice Policy: Contemporary Perspectives. His research on immigration, policing, public policy, and criminological thought has been published in various academic journals and featured in national media outlets. Dr. Ismaili is a tenured full professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Criminology, and Social Work at Eastern.

Dr. Ismaili lives with his spouse, Wendy, and their Labrador Retriever, Gemma. He is a lifelong supporter of Liverpool Football Club and the English National Football Team. He holds three citizenships (United Kingdom, Canada, and USA) and has a family history with links to East Africa and South Asia.