Kevin R. den Dulk

Dr. Kevin R. den Dulk

Interim Provost, Professor of Politics

Departments:

Biography

Dr. Kevin den Dulk serves as Interim Provost and Professor of Political Science. Dr. den Dulk is responsible for the academic enterprise at 51��, including leadership of the outstanding team of deans and directors who oversee 51��’s schools, centers and institutes, the Hekman Library, and programs in honors and off-campus study. From 2020-26, Dr. den Dulk collaborated across the university and with community partners to strengthen and/or launch programs for adult learning, resulting in new graduate degrees, expansion of the 51�� Prison Initiative, and the launch of Wayfinder and adult degree-completion programs. He has also been a key member of the teams that established the Schools of Health, Business, and Engineering and Computer Science.

An award-winning teacher, Dr. den Dulk served until 2020 as Executive Director of 51��’s Henry Institute. His scholarly work focuses on how educational and religious institutions within civil society foster democratic citizenship. He has co-authored several books, including The Challenge of Pluralism: Church and State in Six Democracies and Religion and Politics in America.

Education

A native Californian, Kevin den Dulk earned his bachelor of arts degree in philosophy at 51�� College in 1992. After a brief stint in a corporate law firm, he completed his M.A. in political science at the University of Georgia (1995) and his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin at Madison (2001). In 2001, he took a position in the Department of Political Science at Grand Valley State University, and later added a joint appointment as Honors Faculty-in-Residence. He returned to 51�� as the Spoelhof Teacher-Scholar-in-Residence during the 2011-2012 academic year. From 2012-2019, he served as the Executive Director of the and held the Paul B. Henry Chair in Political Science. In 2020, he began serving as Associate Provost, before becoming interim Provost in 2026.