Four Women Academics Named Deans at Major Universities

Danielle B. McDonald was promoted to dean of students at the University of South Florida in Tampa. She will also hold the title of assistant vice president. McDonald has served in this post on an interim basis since January. Earlier, she was associate dean of students. From 2004 to 2011, McDonald was assistant dean of students at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

A graduate of the University of Miami in Florida, McDonald holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Georgia.

Renae Chesnut, was named interim dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. She has been serving as associate dean of academic and student affairs for more than a decade. A professor of pharmacy practice, she joined the university’s faculty in 1993.

Professor Chesnut holds a bachelor’s degree, an MBA, and an educational doctorate, all from Drake University.

Farah C. Muscadin was named dean of students at Chicago State University in Illinois. She will also hold the title of associate vice president of student affairs. She has been serving as interim dean of student affairs and director of intergovernmental affairs at the university.

Muscadin is a graduate of the University of Iowa, where she majored in business administration. She holds a juris doctorate from the University of Iowa College of Law.

Cynthia Gerstl-Pepin was appointed interim dean of the College of Education and Social Services at the University of Vermont. She is a professor of educational leadership and policy studies and associate dean for academic affairs and research at the university.

Dr. Gerstl-Pepin holds a doctorate in educational organizations and policy studies from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is the co-editor of Reimagining the Public Intellectual in Education: Making Scholarship Matter (Peter Lang Publishers, 2015).