Claudia Petrescu

Vice Provost for Graduate Education
Dean of the Graduate School

cpetrescu@ksu.edu
785-532-6191
116B Eisenhower Hall

Claudia A. Petrescu joined Kansas State University's as its first vice provost for graduate education who also serves as dean of the university's Graduate School starting January 2021. In this role, Dr. Petrescu provides strategic leadership and vision to help advance graduate education in directions consistent with K-State's goals and priorities and the evolving role of graduate education in the 21st century.

Prior to joining Kansas State University, Petrescu served in several leadership and academic roles: dean of graduate education and professor of public administration and nonprofit management (Oakland University); Professor of public administration and nonprofit management; faculty associate for policy and procedure at the Graduate School; assistant to the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for strategic planning, program director of the university's National Leadership Alliance program, interim head of the political science department (Eastern Michigan University). Petrescu also joined the K-State University’ Department of Political Science’s faculty.

Among Petrescu's honors are serving as an American Council of Education, or ACE, fellow from May 2018 to June 2019. Dr. Petrescu’s research interests are in the areas of organizational change, nonprofit management, capacity building, executive transitions, strategic planning, and program and policy evaluation. She has been published in journals such as the International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, International Leadership Journal, Nonprofit Management and Leadership among others. She serves as a Higher Learning Commission (HLC) Peer Reviewer.

Petrescu earned her doctorate from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. She earned a master's degree in social and public policy from Duquesne University and a master's in economics from Babes-Bolyai University in Romania. She also completed post-graduate studies in international affairs at the National School of Public Administration and International Relations, also in Romania. Petrescu is fluent in Romanian and Hungarian.