Four Women Named to Positions as Dean at U.S. Universities

Rebecca Craik was appointed dean of the College of Health Sciences at Arcadia University in Glendale, Pennsylvania. The appointment is effective on September 1. Dr. Craik joined the faculty at the university in 1983 and was named chair of the department of physical therapy a decade later. She is the editor-in-chief of the journal Physical Therapy, the official publication of the American Physical Therapy Association.

Professor Craik is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She earned a master’s degree at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and a doctorate at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Jane Shaw was appointed dean of religious life at Stanford University in California. She has been serving as dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco since 2010. She has also been a visiting scholar at the university’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. Earlier in her career, Dr. Shaw served on the faculty at the University of Oxford and was dean of divinity. She is the author of several books including Octavia, Daughter of God: The Story of a Female Messiah and Her Followers (Yale University Press, 2011).

Dr. Shaw is a graduate of the University of Oxford. She holds a master of divinity degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Berkeley.

Karen Fontenot was named dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. She is a professor of communication at the university and has served as interim dean since 2009.

Professor Fontenot holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and a Ph.D. in communication theory, all from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

Margaret L. Williams was appointed dean of the College of Business and Public Administration at the University of North Dakota. She has been serving as interim dean of the School of Business and professor of management at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Dr. Williams holds a master’s degree in psychology from Purdue University and an MBA and a Ph.D. from Indiana University.