A Dozen Women Who Have Been Named to Dean Posts at Major Universities

Amy Falkner has been named interim dean of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She currently serves as senior associate dean for academic affairs and as an associate professor of advertising at the Newhouse School.

Professor Falkner holds a bachelor’s degree from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York, and a master’s degree from Syracuse University.

Grace Kuo has been named dean of the College of Pharmacy at Oregon State University. She currently serves as a professor and associate dean at the University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Kuo holds a bachelor’s degree in pyschobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles, a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, a doctor of pharmacy degree from Oregon State University, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. both in public health from the University of Texas Health Science Center.

Amy Hungerford has been reappointed as dean of humanities for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yale University. In addition to her role as dean, she is the Bird White Hosum Professor of English, a professor of American studies, and chair of the University Humanities Strategy Committee. She is the author of Making Literature Now (Stanford University Press, 2016).

Dr. Hungerford holds five degrees from Johns Hopkins University: a bachelor’s degree in political science, a master’s degree in humanities, a master’s degree in poetry, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. both in English and American literature.

Lynn Boyd has been named dean of science and mathematics at Arkansas State University. She currently serves as a professor and the department chair of biology at Middle Tennessee State University.

Dr. Boyd is a graduate of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Utah.

Catrine Tudor-Locke has been named dean of the College of Health and Human Services at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She currently serves as associate dean for research and administration in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Dr. Tudor-Locke holds a master’s degree in kinesiology from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a doctorate in health studies and gerontology from the University of Waterloo in Ontario.

Haifa Abou Samra has been named dean of the School of Health Sciences at the University of South Dakota. She has served as chair of the university’s nursing department since 2016.

Dr. Samra is a graduate of the American University of Beirut where she majored in nursing. She holds a master’s degree in nursing science, a master’s degree in management, and a Ph.D. in biological sciences all from South Dakota State University.

Pamela F. Cipriano has been named interim dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Virginia. She is currently a member of the school’s research faculty and previously served as chief clinical officer/chief nursing officer for the UVA Health System.

Dr. Cipriano is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., where she majored in nursing. She holds a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. in executive nursing administration from the University of Utah.

Susan McIntosh has been named interim dean of the School of Sciences at Rice University in Houston. She is the Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Anthropology and has been a Rice faculty member since 1981.

Dr. McIntosh is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where she majored in anthropology. She holds a master’s degree in archaeology from the University of Cambridge in England and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Kristi Palmer has been named the founding Herbert Simon Family Dean of University Library at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. She has served as interim dean since April 2018 and has worked for IUPUI since 2003.

Dr. Palmer is a graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where she majored in history. She holds a master of library science degree from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Jane Aiken has been named dean of the School of Law at Wake Forest University. She has been a professor and administrator at Georgetown University since 2007, currently serving as the Blume Professor of Law.

Professor Aiken is a graduate of Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. She holds a  juris doctorate from New York University and a master of laws degree from Georgetown University.

Safiya George has been named dean of the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University. She currently serves as assistant dean for research at the Capstone College of Nursing and director of the Office of Scholarly Affairs at the University of Alabama.

Dr. George holds a master of nursing degree and Ph.D. from Emory University in Atlanta.

Allison Brashear has been named dean of the School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis. She currently serves as a professor and chair of the department of neurology at Wake Forest University.

Dr. Brashear is an honors graduate of DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where she majored in chemistry. She holds a medical doctorate from Indiana University and an MBA from Duke University.