Eight Women Who Have Been Selected for Dean Positions in Higher Education

Lisa D. Ordonez has been named dean of the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego. She is the first woman appointed to the post. Dr. Ordonez currently serves as the vice dean of academic programs in the Eller School of Management at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Ordonez holds three degrees from the University of California, Berkeley: a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s degree in marketing, and a Ph.D. in quantitative psychology.

Kristina Odejimi was appointed dean of students at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. She has been serving as the dean of students at St. Margaret’s School in Tappahannock, Virginia, a position she has held since 2014. Earlier, Dr. Odejimi held administrative posts at the University of Virginia and the University of Arkansas.

Dr. Odejimi is a graduate of Denison University in Granville, Ohio. She holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Virginia and a doctorate in educational leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Kathryn Lively has been named dean of the college at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. She is a professor of sociology and the inaugural house professor of the South House residential community. She has been serving as dean on an interim basis since 2018.

Dr. Lively is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, where she majored in sociology. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. both in sociology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Sandra Brown has been named dean of the College of Nursing and Allied Health at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She most recently served as director of the college’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program.

Brown is a graduate of the University of Southwestern Louisiana, where she majored in nursing. She holds a master’s degree in nursing and a doctoral degree in nursing science both from Louisiana State University.

Marianne Lewis has been named the first-ever woman dean of the Carl H. Linder College of Business at the University of Cincinnati. She was a professor of management and dean of Cass Business School in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Lewis is a graduate of Tusculum College in Tennessee, where she majored in economics. She holds an MBA from Indiana University and a Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky.

Laurie Grubbs has been named interim dean of the College of Nursing at Florida State University. Dr. Grubbs has been a faculty member in the college for 35 years.

Dr. Grubbs is a graduate of Florida State University where she majored in nursing. She holds a master’s degree and doctorate both in nursing from the University of Florida.

Joy Williamson-Lott has been named dean of the Graduate School at the University of Washington. She currently serves as a professor and associate dean in the university’s College of Education. She is the author of several books including Jim Crow Campus: Higher Education and the Struggle for a New Southern Social Order (Teachers College Press, 2018).

Dr. Williamson-Lott holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and speech communications, and a master’s degree and doctorate in the history of American education all from the University of Illinois.

Stephanie J. Rowley has been named provost, dean of the college, and vice president for academic affairs at Columbia University’s Teachers College. She was a professor of psychology and the associate vice president for research at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Rowley holds a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of Virginia.