Six Women Named to Dean Positions at Colleges and Universities

Mary Ann Danowitz is the new dean of the College of Education at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. She has been serving in the post on an interim basis since July 2015. She joined the faculty at the university in 2012 and served as chair of the department of educational leadership, policy, and human development. Her most recent book is Diversity in Organizations: Concepts and Practices (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).

Dean Danowitz holds a bachelor’s degree and an educational doctorate from Pennsylvania State University. She earned a master’s degree in education at the University of Miami.

Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy was appointed dean of the School of Education in the College of Arts and Sciences at American University in Washington, D.C., effective July 1. Currently, she is vice provost for faculty affairs and a professor of counseling and human development at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Dr. Holcomb-McCoy is the author of four books including School Counseling to Close the Achievement Gap: A Social Justice Framework for Success (Corwin, 2007).

Professor Holcomb-McCoy holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Virginia. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois, has announced the appointment of Catharine O’Connell as dean of the college. She will also hold the title of provost. Dr. O’Connell has been serving as vice president for academic affairs and student life and dean of the college at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia.

Dr. O’Connell is a graduate of Amherst College in Massachusetts. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. at the University of  Michigan.

Carolyn Gascoigne was appointed dean of arts and humanities at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. She has been serving as chair of graduate programs in the department of foreign languages at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Dr. Gascoigne joined the faculty at the University of Nebraska Omaha in 1997.

Dr. Gascoigne is a graduate of Michigan State University, where she majored in economics. She earned a master’s degree in French at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and a doctorate in French/second language acquisition from Florida State University.

Sally C. Morton was named dean of the College of Science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, effective July 1. Currently, Dr. Morton is professor and chair of the department of biostatistics in the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. She is a past president of the American Statistical Association.

Professor Morton holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematical sciences, a master’s degree in operations research, and a doctorate in statistics, all from Stanford University in California. She also holds a master’s degree in statistics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Melissa Murray is the new interim dean of the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Murray joined the faculty at Berkeley Law in 2006. She teaches courses on family law, criminal law, constitutional law, and reproductive rights. Professor Murray also serves as the faculty director of the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice at the law school.

Professor Murray is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Yale Law School.