Melissa Holt, a noted anti-bullying researcher at BU’s Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, will become Kilachand Honors College’s new director on July 1

New Appointment

Wheelock’s Melissa Holt to Lead Kilachand Honors College

National expert on anti-bullying succeeds Carrie Preston

Helping bullied students—including transgender and gender-diverse adolescents, immigrants, and victims of racism and ethnic bigotry—has animated the BU research of Kilachand Honors College’s new director.

Melissa Holt is associate professor of counseling psychology and associate dean for faculty affairs at Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Her three-year term as Kilachand’s leader begins July 1, BU provost Jean Morrison announced.

Holt, Kilachand’s third director, succeeds two-term director Carrie Preston, professor of English and women’s, gender, & sexuality studies at the College of Arts & Sciences and a professor at Kilachand.

“With the Kilachand team, I look forward to building upon the initiatives developed under Professor Preston’s leadership,” Holt says. “I am interested in exploring ways in which to expand local and global partnerships to offer students more opportunities not only for experiential learning, but also to contribute in meaningful ways by partnering with organizations that aim to address central challenges facing our world today.

“Similarly, building on current interdisciplinary approaches to pedagogy and global perspectives, students might benefit from having experts from across the world, from both academic and non-academic backgrounds, contribute their voices and perspectives in seminars.”

Trustee Rajen Kilachand (Questrom’74, Hon.’14) established the honors college, named for his parents, Arvind and Chandan Nandlal Kilachand, with a $25 million gift in 2011. A second gift of $10 million in 2012 provided a residence for the college’s students, the renamed Kilachand Hall. KHC students are admitted as entering freshmen while enrolling in one of BU’s undergraduate schools, taking one-quarter of their credits through Kilachand. They are required to complete a supplemental essay to be considered for acceptance. There are currently 435 students enrolled in the College. 

“I am honored and excited to be a part of this amazing community,” Holt says. “As an academic, I view it as a privilege to be able to share space with students who are intellectually curious and committed to addressing challenges facing our world. As a researcher, just as I am enthusiastic about exploring topics of interest to me, it energizes me to witness students germinate their own research topics, from fledgling thoughts to fully articulated research projects. Mentoring has always been central to my identity, and thus research mentorship, and mentorship more broadly, is something I am particularly excited about with respect to this new position.”

“It was quickly clear that Professor Holt’s leadership and scholarly credentials, thoughtful vision for the college’s future, attention to diverse voices and perspectives, and enthusiasm for innovative approaches to undergraduate education suit her exceptionally well to serve as Kilachand’s director,” wrote Jean Morrison, University provost and chief academic officer, in a letter sent to BU faculty and staff announcing Holt’s appointment.

“Moreover, Professor Holt has demonstrated her ability to work collaboratively with faculty and deans across the University and to meaningfully connect with students and their families—critical attributes for this interdisciplinary, liberal arts living-learning community within a major research university.”

Holt is a licensed psychologist, specializing in patients with trauma and eating disorders. She researches adolescent harassment and victimization at home, school, and in other community settings. She studies overlapping experiences of violence, the factors that make some adolescent victims resilient, and the effectiveness of schools’ prevention programs. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tufts University and a master’s degree and doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. 

Her work has been funded by the Anti-Defamation League and the National Institutes of Justice, among others, and she codirects Wheelock’s Project AVANT, which has conducted mental health surveys of hundreds of transgender and gender-diverse students. She has authored and co-authored several books, including Understanding and Preventing Bullying and Sexual Harassment in Schools (American Psychological Association, 2012), as well as numerous book chapters, and journal articles. 

Her other University service includes as a Provost’s Mentor Fellow. She received a 2020 Leadership Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and is affiliated with that group and other youth-support institutions, including the American Psychological Association, the Bullying Research Network, and the World Professional Organization on Transgender Health. 

Preston will return to her post as co-founder and associate director of BU’s Center on Forced Displacement.