Seven Women Who Have Been Appointed Deans at Colleges and Universities

Mary Anderson is the new dean of students at the University of West Florida in Pensacola. Previously, Dr. Anderson served as director of case management services at University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Anderson is a graduate of the University of West Florida where she earned her bachelor’s degree in communication arts. She holds a master’s degree in college student affairs from the University of South Florida and a doctoral degree in higher education administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Katherine Whitaker was appointed dean of the School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Voorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina. She joined the Voorhees College family in 2001 and most recently served as chair of the department of business and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Whitaker is a graduate of Voorhees College, where she majored in organizational management. She holds a master’s degree in human resource management from Webster University in Missouri and a doctoral degree in business administration from Northcentral University.

Ana Franco-Watkins, professor and chair of the department of psychological sciences at Auburn University in Alabama, has been named interim dean of the university’s College of Liberal Arts. She joined  the faculty at Auburn University in 2006 after completing a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Franco-Watkins is a graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She holds a master’s degree in psychology from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Maryland College Park.

Martha Peterson was appointed acting associate provost of graduate and professional education and acting dean of the Graduate School at the University of Kentucky. She most recently served as the senior associate vice president for research at the university. Dr. Peterson is a professor of microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics.

Professor Peterson is a graduate of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, where she double majored in biology and chemistry. She holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Allyssa L. Harris is the new dean of nursing at Prairie View A&M University in Texas. Most recently, she was department chair and program director in the William F. Connell School of Nursing at Boston College, in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. She also served as the faculty nurse scientist in the Yvonne L. Munn Center for Nursing Research at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dr. Harris holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in nursing, all from Boston College.

Ellen Weinauer has been named dean of the University of Maine Honors College, effective August 16. She has served as dean of the Honors College at the University of Southern Mississippi since 2014. Dr. Weinauer joined the University of Southern Mississippi English faculty in 1994.

Dr. Weinauer, a native of Minnesota, is a scholar of 19th-century American literature. She holds a bachelor’s dgree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Weinauer earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in English at Indiana University.

Mona Dugo has been named assistant vice president for wellness and dean of students at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She has been serving as interim dean since August 2020. Dugo began her career at Northwestern in 2012 as an assistant dean of students.

Dugo holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Indiana University and a master’s degree in social service administration from the University of Chicago.