Universities Announce the Appointments of Nine Women to Dean Positions

Muge Akpinar-Elci will be the next dean of the recently accredited and renamed School of Public Health, formerly the School of Community Health Sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno. She was associate dean of the College of Health Sciences at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

Dr. Akpinar-Elci received her medical degree from Dokuz Eylul University, School of Medicine in Turkey. She holds a master of public health degree from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans.

Kathryn Chval is the new dean of the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She most recently served as a professor of mathematics education at the University of Missouri. Earlier, Dr. Chval was the acting section head for the Teacher Professional Continuum Program at the National Science Foundation.

Professor Chval holds a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Carroll Ann Trotman will serve as the next dean of the College of Dentistry at Ohio State University, effective August 15. She has been serving as associate dean for faculty development and chair of the department of orthodontics at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston.

Dr. Trotman holds bachelor’s degrees from Columbia University and the University of Michigan. She earned her degree in dental medicine from the University of Dundee in Scotland.

Sharon E. Milligan was appointed interim dean of the Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. She is associate dean for academic affairs and student services, associate professor of social work, and chair of the master of social work degree program at the university. She joined the faculty in 1982.

Dr. Milligan is a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta. She holds a master’s degree in community development from the University of Louisville and a master of social work degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Milligan earned a master of public health degree and Ph.D. at the University of Pittsburgh.

Susan Ettner is the new dean of graduate education at the University of California, Los Angeles. A faculty member since 1999, Dr. Ettner is a professor of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine and professor of health policy and management at the Fielding School of Public Health.

Dr. Ettner earned bachelor’s degrees in mathematics/economics and German from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Diane Rowland has been named dean of the University of Maine College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture, and director of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station, effective August 1. She has been serving as a professor of crop physiology and department chair at the University of Florida.

Dr. Rowland holds a Ph.D. in plant ecophysiology from the University of New Mexico.

Shannon Collier-Tenison is the new interim dean of the College of Business, Health, and Human Services at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She has been serving as associate dean. Dr. Collier-Tenison joined the School of Social Work at the university as an assistant professor in 2006.

Dr. Collier-Tenison holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas. She earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. in social work from Washington University in St. Louis.

Estella Atekwana will lead the College of Letters and Science at the University of California, Davis. Since 2017, Dr. Atekwana has served as dean of the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment at the University of Delaware.

Dt. Atekwana earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology from Howard University in Washington, D.C. She holds a Ph.D. in geophysics from Dalhousie University in  Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Colleen L. Barry was appointed the founding dean of the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University. She has been serving as chair of the department of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Earlier, she taught at the Yale University School of Public Health.

Dr. Barry holds a master of public policy degree and a Ph.D. in health policy from Harvard University.