Kenyon R. Bonner

Key Areas

Student-led programs • Student Affairs services • student resources • student support • student health/welfare • residence life • campus recreation • parent/family resources • student life • volunteer opportunities • campus recreation

Vice Provost Role

The Office of the Dean promotes and ensures a diverse, inclusive, and equitable learning and social environment for all students. The office supports development, well-being/engagement, and success by connecting students with resources and networks needed to maximize their college experience, both in and out of the classroom. The office advises and empowers students by facilitating the resolution of judicial, personal, or other matters that may affect students’ quality of life or the pursuit of their goals. To achieve these ends, the office provides leadership, oversight, and assistance to the Division of Student Affairs and works in concert with other University departments and Schools.

Professional Biography

Kenyon R. Bonner, Vice Provost and Dean of Students, plays a pivotal role in helping the University of Pittsburgh achieve one of its fundamental goals—educating the whole student. The areas under his purview in the Division of Student Affairs include Student Life, Residence Life, University Counseling Center, PittServes (student volunteering opportunities), Parent and Family Resources, Student Health Service, Student Conduct, Career Center, Campus Recreation, Pitt Arts (free attendance to various museums, lectures, and concerts), Cross Cultural and Leadership Development, and New Student Programs.

Bonner joined Pitt’s Division of Student Affairs in 2004 as Assistant Director of Residence Life. Prior to his January 2015 appointment as Interim Vice Provost and Dean of Students (he gained permanent appointment in March 2016), Bonner served for seven years as Associate Dean of Students and for 11 years as the Director of Student Life. In these roles, he was responsible for managing a comprehensive educational, social, and experiential learning program for students that included New Student Orientation and First-Year Experience programs; student governments; the Student Organization Resource Center (supporting 600+ student organizations); The Pitt News and WPTS Radio (student-run newspaper and radio); and student unions. Bonner was also instrumental in developing the University’s Reaching Inside Your Soul for Excellence (RISE) Mentoring Program.

Bonner earned his EdD in Higher Education Management at the University of Pennsylvania, his MEd in Rehabilitation Counseling at Kent State University, and his BA in Psychology and Philosophy at Washington and Jefferson College. He is the recipient of Washington and Jefferson College’s Waltersdorf Award for Innovation Leadership (2017) and the University of Pittsburgh’s Chancellor’s Award for Staff Excellence in Service to the University (2013).

In his spare time, Kenyon likes to spend time with his family, attend his children’s basketball and football games, watch Marvel movies, play videogames, and run. He also serves as the co-chair of the United Way Impact Cabinet, and he sits on the Board of Directors for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross and Family House Pittsburgh.