Universities Appoint Three Women to Dean Positions

Kimberly White-Smith recently became dean of the LaFetra College of Education at the University of La Verne in California. She was associate dean of the College of Educational Studies at Chapman University in Orange, California. There, she also served as a professor of education and director of the Donna Ford Attallah Educator Development Academy. She joined the faculty at Chapman University in 2004.

Dr. White-Smith is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. She earned a master’s degree at Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City. Dean White-Smith holds a doctorate in learning and instruction from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Hari M. Osofsky was named dean of Penn State Law and the School of International Affairs. She will take office on July 1. Currently, Dr. Osofsky is the Robert Kaplan Professor of Law, faculty director of the Energy Transition Library, and director of the joint degree program in law, science, and technology at the University of Minnesota Law School. Earlier, in her career, she taught at the law schools at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, and Oregon State University.

Professor Osofsky holds a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from Yale University. She earned a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Oregon.

Valerie Kinloch was appointed the Renee and Richard Goldman Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. She will begin her new job on July 1. Currently, Dr. Kinloch is a professor of literacy studies and associate dean of diversity, inclusion, and community engagement in the College of Education and Human Ecology at Ohio State University. She joined the faculty at Ohio State in 2007. Professor Kinloch is the author of several books including Harlem on Our Minds: Place, Race, and the Literacies of Urban Youth (Teachers College Press, 2010) and Crossing Boundaries: Teaching and Learning With Urban Youth (Teachers College Press, 2012).

Professor Kinloch is a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she majored in English. She holds a master’s degree in English and African American literature and a Ph.D. in English and composition studies from Wayne State University in Detroit.