Four Women Appointed to Dean Positions

Monica Adya was appointed dean of the business school at Rutgers University-Camden in New Jersey. Established in 1988, the school has 52 full-time faculty, nearly 1,500 undergraduate students and 451 graduate students. When she takes office on March 30, Dr. Adya will be the first woman to serve as dean.

Dr. Adya has been serving as chair of the management department at Marquette University’s business school in Milwaukee. She is a graduate of Shri Ram College of Commerce in India. Dr. Adya earned a master’s degree in computer systems management from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska and a Ph.D. in management from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Valerie A. Johnson is serving as dean of the School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities at Shaw University in Raleigh North Carolina. Dr. Johnson most recently was the Mott Distinguished Professor of Women’s Studies and director of African women’s studies at Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, North Carolina. Earlier, Dr. Johnson was an assistant professor of African & Afro-American studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Johnson is a magna cum laude graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology. She holds a master’s degree in sociology from Atlanta University and a Ph.D. in medical anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Sarah Gehlert will be the next dean of the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She is currently serving as dean of the University of South Carolina’s College of Social Work. Dr. Gehlert will begin her new duties in April. Prior to her post at the University of South Carolina, Gehlert held a joint appointment at Washington University in St. Louis, where she served as the E. Desmond Lee Professor of Racial and Ethnic Diversity at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work and a professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery.

Dr. Gehlert earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in anthropology and a master’s degree in social work at the University of Missouri-Columbia. She holds a Ph.D. in social work from Washington University in St. Louis.

Amy Waer has been appointed interim dean of the Texas A&M University College of Medicine. She has served as executive dean for education and academic programs for the College of Medicine since 2018.

Dr. Waer joined Texas A&M after several decades of surgical experience and medical education expertise with the University of Arizona Health Sciences College of Medicine. She received her undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Arizona.