Jack DeRochi currently serves as Dean of Graduate, Continuing, and Online Education at Winthrop University. A tenured professor of English, DeRochi earned his Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina and joined the Winthrop faculty in 2001. He first became Dean of the Graduate School in 2012 after serving as Associate Dean in Winthrop’s College of Arts and Sciences. As Dean, he initiated and facilitated the launch of Winthrop’s first 100% online graduate programs and established the University’s first institutional-wide Community Advisory Board for graduate education. From February 2021 to January 2023, DeRochi served consecutively as Interim Vice President for Access and Enrollment Management and Interim Vice President for University Advancement. A strong advocate for higher education, DeRochi served as President of the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools and on the board of the Council for Historically Black Graduate Schools. He currently serves on the foundation board for MaxAbilities (York County Board of Disabilities and Special Needs).
In addition to his administrative work, DeRochi has taught a wide range of courses from Writing 101 to graduate seminars on the British novel. His primary research area is eighteenth-century drama and satire, including his co-edited book Richard Sheridan: The Impresario in Political and Cultural Context (2013).