Ten Women Who Have Been Appointed to Dean Positions at American Educational Institutions

Mary J. Davis has been named interim dean of the College of Law at the University of Kentucky. She is an Ashland-Spears Distinguished Research Professor and has been on the law school faculty since 1991.

Professor Davis is a graduate of the University of Virginia where she majored in history. She holds a law degree from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Marsha Davis has been named dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia. She is a professor in the department of health promotion and behavior. She has been a faculty member at the university since 2006 and has served as interim dean since 2018.

Dr. Davis is a graduate of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where she double-majored in psychology and religion. She holds a master’s degree in educational psychology from Columbia University in New York City and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Minnesota.

Linda Garrelts MacLean has been named interim dean of the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Washington State University. She is currently the college’s vice dean for external relations and a clinical professor. Her new appointment makes her the first woman to lead the college in its 128-year history.

Professor MacLean holds a bachelor’s degree in English and mathematics education from Western Illinois University and a bachelor of pharmacy degree from Washington State University.

Gloria Culver has been reappointed as dean of the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Rochester in New York. She is a professor of biology and has been a faculty at the university member since 2007.

Dr. Culver is a graduate of Ithaca College in New York. She holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Rochester.

Mary Ann Bobinski has been named the first-ever woman dean of the School of Law at Emory University in Atlanta. She is currently a professor at the Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Professor Bobinski holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a juris doctorate from the University at Buffalo of the State University of New York System, and a master’s degree from Harvard Law School.

Amy Hungerford has been named executive vice president and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University. She is currently the dean of humanities at Yale University.

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.

Karin Gwinn Wilkins has been named dean of the School of Communication at the University of Miami. She currently serves as associate dean of faculty advancement and strategic initiatives at the Moody College of Communication and professor of media studies at the University of Texas.

Dr. Wilkins is a graduate of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where she majored in interdisciplinary studies. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in communication from the University of Pennsylvania.

Vanessa Lovelace has been named vice president of academic affairs and dean of the seminary at Lancaster Theological Seminary. She currently serves as an associate professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Lovelace is a graduate of San Francisco State University. She holds a master of divinity degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and a Ph.D. in Bible (Hebrew), Culture, and Hermeneutics from the Chicago Theological Seminary.

Adriene Lim has been named dean of university libraries at the University of Maryland. She currently serves as dean of libraries and holds the Philip H. Knight Chair at the University of Oregon.

Dr. Lim holds a bachelor of fine arts degree and a master of library and information science degree both from Wayne State University in Detroit, and a Ph.D. in library information science from Simmons University in Boston.

Rosalie Mainous has been named dean of the College of Nursing at Texas Woman’s University. She currently serves as director of academic nursing development for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

Dr. Mainous holds three degrees in nursing: a bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisville, a master’s degree from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, and a Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky.