Four New Deans

Judith Langlois was named dean of graduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin. As dean of graduate programs she will oversee 78 doctoral and 116 master’s degree programs. Dr. Langlois  has been serving as interim dean since January 2012 and will continue in her role as vice provost.

Dr. Langlois joined the faculty at the University of Texas in 1973. She holds a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University.

Reeta Piirala-Skoglund was appointed dean of admissions at the Lindenwood University campus in Belleville, Illinois. She was director of enrollment for the Institute of Technology at West Virginia University.

Piirala-Skoglund holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Indiana University-Kokomo.

Julie Marfell was named dean at Frontier Nursing University, a graduate institution based in Hyden, Kentucky, which offers online master’s and doctoral degrees. Dr. Marfell has been the director of the university’s family nursing program for the past 14 years.

Dr. Marfell is a graduate of the Barnes Hospital School of Nursing in St. Louis and completed her graduate degrees at Rush University in Chicago.

Karlene Hoo was named dean of the Graduate School at Montana State University. She has been serving as a professor of chemical engineering at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. She will begin her new job on January 1.

Dr. Hoo has been teaching at Texas Tech since 1999. She previously served on the faculty at the University of South Carolina. Professor Hoo is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and holds master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame.