Six Women Who Have Been Appointed to Dean Positions in Higher Education

Pamela R. Jeffries will become dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing on July 1. Dr. Jeffries has been serving as a professor and dean of the George Washington University School of Nursing in Washington, D.C. Prior to being named dean of George Washington University School of Nursing in 2015, Professor Jeffries served as the inaugural vice provost for digital initiatives at Johns Hopkins University.

After receiving a bachelor of science in nursing from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, Dr. Jeffries earned a master’s degree in nursing and a doctorate of nursing from Indiana University.

Indy Burke, the Carl W. Knobloch Jr. Dean at the Yale School of the Environment, has been reappointed for a second term. Dr. Burke, an accomplished ecosystem ecologist and biogeochemist, became the first woman dean in the school’s 116-year history when she was appointed in 2016.

Dr. Burke is a graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont, where she majored in biology. She holds a Ph.D. in botany from the University of Wyoming.

Rhea Ballard-Thrower has recently been appointed University Librarian and dean of libraries at the University of Illinois Chicago. Prior to her appointment, Ballard-Thrower was executive director of the Howard University Libraries and a tenured professor at the Howard University School of Law.

Professor Ballard-Thrower holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati, a master of information and library studies degree from the University of Michigan, and a juris doctorate from the University of Kentucky College of Law.

Diane Ring was appointed interim dean of the Boston College Law School, effective July 1. She has been serving as associate dean. Prior to joining Boston College Law School 15 years ago, Ring was an associate professor of law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and an assistant professor at Harvard Law School.

Professor Ring is a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School.

Trisha Clement-Montgomery, who has served as acting dean of students at the University of Kentucky since September, has been named permanently to the position. Prior to being named interim dean, Dr. Clement-Montgomery served in multiple leadership roles at the University of Kentucky including director of residence life.

Dr. Clement-Montgomery is a graduate of Western Kentucky University, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree in educational psychology and a doctoral degree in higher education leadership from the University of Kentucky.

Margaretha Geertsema-Sligh is the new interim dean of the College of Communication at Butler University in Indianapolis. She has served as director of the Eugene S. Pulliam School of Journalism and Creative Media since June 2016. Dr. Geertsema-Sligh joined the faculty at Butler Univerity  in August 2005 as an assistant professor and received tenure and promotion to associate professor in 2011. She was promoted to professor in 2017 and holds the Richard M. Fairbanks Chair of Communication.

Professor Geertsema-Sligh earned her bachelor’s degree in mass communication from North-West University in South Africa. She received her master’s degree in communication from Washington State University and her doctorate in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.