Seven Women Appointed to Dean Positions

Barbara J. Wilson was appointed dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois. She has been serving as executive vice provost for faculty and academic affairs at the university. Dr. Wilson also serves as the Kathryn Lee Baynes Dallenbach Professor of Communication at the university. She joined the faculty at the university in 2000 after serving for 12 years on the faculty of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Professor Wilson holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism, a master’s degree, and a Ph.D. in communications arts, all from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Erica D’Agostino was named dean of advising and co-curricular programs at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. She joined the staff at the university in 2007 and has served as dean of academic advising.

Dr. D’Agostino is a 1995 graduate of Lafayette College. She earned a doctorate in educational leadership, management, and policy from Seton Hall University.

Susan Duncan was appointed to a three-year term as interim dean of the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville. She has served as interim dean since 2012 and has been on the faculty at the law school since 2000.

Dean Duncan is a graduate of Miami University in Ohio and the law school at the University of Louisville.

Alondra Nelson was named dean of social sciences at Columbia University in New York City. Dr. Nelson is professor of sociology and director of the Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality at the university. She will become dean on July 1.

Dr. Nelson is the author of the award-winning book, Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination (University of Minnesota Press, 2011). She is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of California at San Diego and holds a Ph.D. in American studies from New York University.

Barbara Atkinson was appointed planning dean at the University of Las Vegas School of Medicine. She is vice chancellor and professor emerita at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. She served as dean of the University of Kansas School of Medicine from 2002 to 2012.

Originally from Minneapolis, Dr. Atkinson is a graduate of the College of Wooster in Ohio and the Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.

Tina Whalen was named interim dean of the College of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Cincinnati. She has been a member of the university’s faculty since 1990 and has been serving since 2012 as associate dean for academic affairs.

Dr. Whalen holds a master of public administration degree from the University of Cincinnati, a doctorate in physical therapy from Chatham University, and an educational doctorate from the Union Institute and University in Cincinnati.

Denise Seachrist was named interim dean and chief administrative officer at Kent State University at Stark in Canton, Ohio. She has been serving as the director of the Hugh A. Glauser School of Music at Kent State. The Stark campus enrolls about 4,800 undergraduate students.

Seachrist is a graduate of Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio. She earned a master’s degree at Youngstown State University in Ohio and a Ph.D. in musicology from Kent State University.