Major Research Universities Appoint Four Women to Dean Positions

Maureen Lichtveld has been named dean of the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health. She has been serving as the director of the Center for Gulf Coast Environmental Health Research, Leadership and Strategic Initiatives within Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans. Prior to arriving at Tulane in 2005, Professor Lichtveld spent 18 years with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

D. Lichtveld holds a master of public health degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She earned a medical doctorate from Anton de Kom University of Suriname and Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Doneka Scott will be the next vice chancellor and dean of the Division of Academic and Student Affairs at North Carolina State University. She has been serving as vice provost for undergraduate education and student success at the University of Oregon. She will begin her new job in February. Dr. Scott joined the staff at the University of Oregon in August 2016 and has been in her current role since February 2019.

Dr. Scott holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, a master’s degree in higher education, and a pharmacy doctorate, all from the University of Michigan.

Michelle Sabick has been named the new dean of the Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Denver. She will begin her new role on March 1, 2021. Most recently, Dr. Sabick served as the dean of the Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology and as a professor of biomedical engineering at Saint Louis University.

Professor Sabick is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the University of Iowa.

Rhea Ballard-Thrower will become the new University Librarian and dean of libraries at the University of Illinois Chicago. She will begin her new job on February 1, 2021. Dr. Ballard-Thrower is currently the executive director of the Howard University Library System in Washington, D.C. She is also a tenured professor at the law school at Howard University where she teaches advanced legal research.

Professor Ballard-Thrower holds a master of library and information science degree from the University of Michigan and a juris doctorate from the University of Kentucky.