Commencement 2024

Sep Eskandari

Sep Eskandari, Ph.D.
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Montana State University Billings

Sep Eskandari serves as the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Montana State University Billings. In this role, Eskandari is responsible for all operations related to the academic mission of the university, including undergraduate and graduate academic programs offered by five colleges, faculty affairs, grants and sponsored programs, academic policy, academic planning, academic resources, library, international studies, and institutional research. He leads key university initiatives in support of student and faculty success.

Prior to his current role, Eskandari served as the Associate Provost for Academic Planning and Faculty Excellence at Cal Poly Pomona. Previous leadership roles at CPP included Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs, Academic Senate Chair, Academic Senate Vice Chair, and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences.

Eskandari obtained a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in biology from Cal Poly Pomona, and a doctoral degree in physiology from UCLA. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship in neurobiology at UCLA, he joined the faculty of Biological Sciences at CPP in 2000. As a faculty member, he led an active research program with more than 40 peer-reviewed publications (nearly all with student co-authors) and over $3 million in external funds in support of his research. His research focused on the molecular physiology and pharmacology of brain neurotransmitter transporters.

He is married to Julie Eskandari and, together, they have a daughter, Lily Eskandari.