Seven Women Appointed to Positions as Deans in Higher Education

Judy Didion was appointed dean of the School of Nursing at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. She has been serving as a professor and dean of the College of Nursing at Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio.

Dr. Didion is a graduate of the University of Toledo in Ohio, where she majored in nursing. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and a Ph.D. in nursing from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

Nasha Torrez is the new dean of students at the University of New Mexico. She had been serving as associate counsel in the university’s Office of University Counsel.

Torrez holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and a juris doctorate from the University of New Mexico.

Katherine Ankerson was named dean of the College of Architecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has been serving as a professor and chair of the department of interior architecture and product design at Kansas State University.

Ankerson holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in architecture from Washington State University.

Rachel Croson was appointed dean of the College of Social Science at Michigan State University, effective August 1. She has been serving as a professor of economics and dean of the College of Business at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Dr. Croson is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where she double majored in economics and philosophy. She earned a Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University.

Irene Aiken was named dean of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. She is a professor of elementary education at the university and is the former chair of the department of professional studies and former director of the graduate elementary education program at the university.

Professor Aiken holds a bachelor’s degree in intermediate education and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Sharon Basso was appointed dean of students and vice president of student affairs at Claremont McKenna College in California. She has been serving as associate vice provost and dean of students at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Basso is a graduate of Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree in college counseling and student development administration from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Delaware.

Rebecca Doerge, the Trent and Judith Anderson Distinguished Professor of Statistics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, has accepted the position of dean of the College of Science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Professor Doerge has taught at Purdue since 1995.

Professor Doerge holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from the University of Utah. She earned a Ph.D. in statistics at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.