Bio:

Dr. Naomi Yavneh Klos serves as Dean of the Honors College, where she works with students, faculty, and staff to foster a vibrant community of learning, leadership, and discovery. She is committed to creating opportunities that challenge students academically while encouraging them to explore their passions, engage with their communities, and make a meaningful impact.

As dean, Dr. Yavneh Klos helps guide the college's vision, supports innovative programs and partnerships, and advocates for an inclusive environment where curiosity, creativity, and collaboration can thrive. She believes that education is most transformative when students are empowered to ask bold questions, embrace new perspectives, and connect their learning to the world around them. 

Dean Yavneh Klos earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a master’s degree and doctoral degree at the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in comparative literature. Before joining The University of New Mexico, she was Reverend Emmett M. Bienvenu, SJ, Distinguished Chair in Humanities, and Professor of Languages and Cultures at Loyola University New Orleans. 

During her time at Loyola University, Dean Yavneh Klos directed the university’s honors program, where she developed a curriculum focused on social justice and diversity. She was also president of the National Collegiate Honors Council, focusing on initiatives of access, equity and inclusive excellence in higher education.

The author of three award-winning essay collections on gender in the early modern world, Dean Yavneh Klos’ current research projects focus on whether learning about the Holocaust can help address contemporary antisemitism, and on knitting as a form of resilience during the Holocaust. Dr. Yavneh Klos is committed to high-impact practices that contribute to retention, graduation, and community. She is an innovator in interdisciplinary and community-engaged research and the pedagogy of justice.

In her spare time, Dean Yavneh Klos enjoys knitting and spending time with her large family. She and her husband, Stanley Klos (who is a historical preservationist of both real estate and documents), have a large collection of historical documents dating back the 1600s, the founding era of the United States. She is a native of New York and an adopted daughter of New Orleans but is falling in love with New Mexican cuisine and culture.

Research Interest:

• Experiential learning and research opportunities
• Social justice and diversity, including initiatives of access, equity and inclusive excellence in higher education

Dean Klos’ achievements and board positions include:

• Two Fulbright Fellowships: one for dissertation research in the Vatican and the other in the Netherlands, where she taught at Windesheim Honours College and collaborated with the Anne Frank House
• Founding Director, Office of Undergraduate Research, University of South Florida
• Founding Chair, Council of Undergraduate Research’s (CUR) Arts and Humanities Division
• Chair, Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) Honors Consortium and representative to the AJCU Council of Chairs
• Board member, vice president and president of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC)