Nine New Women Deans at Colleges and Universities Throughout the United States

Claire Garcia has been named dean of the faculty at Colorado College. She is a tenured professor of English who first joined the College as a Riley Scholar in 1990. She was the lead editor for the book From Uncle Tom’s Cabin to “The Help”: Critical Perspectives on White-Authored Narratives of Black Life (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2014).

Dr. Garcia is a graduate of Bennington College in Vermont where she double majored in philosophy and literature. She holds a Ph.D. in English and American literature from the University of Denver.

Rachel Kyte is the first woman to be named dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University in Massachusetts. She currently serves as CEO of Sustainable Energy for All, a nonprofit public/private platform created by the United Nations secretary general, which promotes and finances clean, affordable energy and low-carbon growth. She has been a professor of practice at the Fletcher School at Tufts University since 2014.

Professor Kyte holds a bachelor’s degree in history and politics from the University of London and a master’s degree in international relations from Tufts University.

Susan Catron has been named the first-ever woman dean of the Division of Continuing and Professional Education at the University of California, Davis. She has served as interim dean since last July and has worked for the division for the past 20 years.

Dr. Catron holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in public policy and administration both from California State University, Sacramento, and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy from the University of California, Davis.

Laura Vandenburgh has been named interim dean of the College of Design at the University of Oregon. She is an associate professor and head of the School of Art + Design. She has been a faculty member at the university since 1998.

Dr. Vandenburgh holds a bachelor’s degree in zoology and a doctor of veterinary medicine degree both from the University of California, Davis. She holds a master of fine arts degree from Hunter College in New York City.

Susan Lozier, was named dean and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair in the College of Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She currently serves as the Ronie-Richele Garcia-Johnson Distinguished Professor of Ocean Sciences at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Dr. Lozier is a graduate of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where she majored in chemical engineering. She holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering and a Ph.D. in physical oceanography from the University of Washington.

Gennifer Weisenfeld has been appointed to a second term as dean of the humanities for the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences at Duke University. She is a professor of art history and visual studies and she has been a Duke faculty member since 1998.

Dr. Weisenfeld is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. She holds a master’s degree and doctorate both from Princeton University in New Jersey.

Stephanie Gray has been named dean of Gallatin College at Montana State University. She has served as workforce program development director at Gallatin since 2012.

Gray is a graduate of the University of Colorado where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree in public administration from Eastern Washington University.

Nicole Pennington has been named interim executive dean for regional higher education at Ohio University. She currently serves as dean of Ohio University Southern.

Dr. Pennington is a graduate of Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, where she majored in nursing. She holds a master’s degree in nursing from the University of South Alabama and a doctor of nursing practice degree from Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Wendi S. Williams has been named dean of the School of Education at Mills College in Oakland, California. She currently serves as associate dean of academic affairs at Bank Street College in New York City.

Dr. Williams holds a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Georgia State University.