New Women Deans Named at Eight Universities

Regina Vasilatos-Younken is the new dean of the Graduate School at Pennsylvania State University. She will also hold the title of vice provost for graduate education. Dr. Vasilatos-Younken has been serving as interim dean and has been on the faculty at the university since 1983. She currently serves as professor of endocrine physiology and nutrition in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

Dean Vasilatos-Younken is a graduate of the University of Maine. She holds a Ph.D. in animal nutrition from Pennsylvania State University.

Eboni Pringle was appointed dean of the University College at Kent State University in Ohio. She has been serving as interim dean since October 2012. Dr. Pringle joined the staff at Kent State in 1998 as an academic adviser in the Student Advising Center.

Dr. Pringle is a graduate of Ohio University in Athens, where she majored in speech and hearing. She holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in higher education administration from Kent State University.

Kristie Bunton was named dean of the Bob Schieffer College of Communication at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. Since 2011, she has served as associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Dr. Bunton is the co-editor of The Ethics of Reality TV: A Philosophical Examination (Bloomsbury Academic, 2012).

Dr. Bunton is a graduate of the University of Missouri and holds a Ph.D. in mass communication from Indiana University.

Teresa Dahlberg has been chosen as the next dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University in New York. She is the former chief academic officer for The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. Earlier in her academic career she served on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Dahlberg worked for IBM for 10 years before joining the academic community.

Dr. Dahlberg is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where she majored in electrical engineering. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in computer engineering from North Carolina State University.

Lorna Le’Anne Shaw-Berbick was named dean of the university at Kentucky State University in Frankfort. She has been serving as dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York.

Dr. Shaw-Berbick hold two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of the West Indies. She earned a Ph.D. at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Carol Hixson was appointed dean of university libraries at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. For the past six years, she has served as dean of the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg. She will begin her new roles on August 11.

A graduate of Grinnell College in Iowa, Hixson earned a master’s degree in information science from Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Kristina Ropella was named dean of the Opus College of Engineering at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A professor of biomedical engineering, Dr. Ropella has been serving as interim dean. She joined the faculty at Marquette in 1990.

Dr. Ropella is a graduate of Marquette University. She earned master’s and doctoral degrees at Northwestern University in Illinois.

Maryanne Reed was named interim dean of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, the largest academic unit at West Virginia University. She has been serving as dean of the College of Media at West Virginia University since 2004. Professor Reed joined the faculty at the university in 1993.

Professor Reed is graduate of the University of Massachusetts, where she majored in history. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University.