John Boyer was appointed to a third term as Dean of the University's undergraduate college in 2002. During his tenure as Dean of the College, Boyer has strengthened the College curriculum and the College's admissions program, and created the new Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts.

He has also worked to create many new programs for College students involving foreign study, internships and foreign language instruction; to expand student research opportunities; and to strengthen resources for student life.

An accomplished historian and member of the Chicago faculty since 1975, Boyer has served as Chairman of the Council on Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences and as Co-Editor of the Journal of Modern History since 1980. He is a specialist in the history of the Habsburg Empire and of Central Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. Much of Boyer's recent scholarship has focused on the history of liberal arts higher education, and the University of Chicago. He has written a series of monographs on various aspects of the history of the College and the University, most recently extended essays on the history of academic freedom at Chicago and on the history of the University community during World War I and World War II. An articulate advocate for liberal arts education, Boyer regularly teaches Western Civilization in the College.