Universities Announce the Appointments of Seven Women to Dean Positions

Amaney Jamal, the Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics and director of the Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice at Princeton University in New Jersey, was appointed dean of the university’s School of Public and International Affairs. Before coming to Princeton in 2003, Dr. Jamal was an assistant professor of political science at Columbia University.

The daughter of Palestinian immigrants, Dr. Jamal is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles. She earned a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan.

Dayna Cunningham has been named the Pierre and Pamela Omidyar Dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life at Tufts University in Massachusetts. She is a civil rights attorney and was the founder and executive director of the Community Innovators Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Cunningham is a graduate of Harvard University. She earned a juris doctorate from the New York University School of Law.

Rosemary Blieszner was appointed interim dean for the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech. She is an Alumni Distinguished Professor and former dean of the Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. She joined the faculty at Virginia Tech in 1981.

Dr. Blieszner holds a bachelor’s degree from Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania. She earned a master’s degree from Ohio State University and a doctorate from Pennsylvania State University.

Cynthia Lietz has been named interim dean of the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions at Arizona State University. She is a President’s Professor of social work who has served as vice dean since 2016.

Dr. Lietz earned a bachelor’s degree at Valparaiso University in Indiana. She holds a master of social work degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Ph.D. in social work from Arizona State University.

Alexandra Murphy has been appointed interim dean of the College of Communication at DePaul University in Chicago. Her appointment as interim dean starts July 1 and will continue for two years. She has been serving as acting dean since 2018. She is a professor of communication studies and has been with DePaul since 1998.

Professor Murphy received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Utah. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of South Florida.

Julianne Malveaux has been appointed dean of the new College of Ethnic Studies at California State University, Los Angeles. From 2007 to 2012, Dr. Malveaux served as president of Bennett College, a liberal arts educational institution for women in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Dr. Malveaux holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from Boston College. She earned a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Diane H. Petrella was appointed dean of the College of the Arts at Kent State University in Ohio. Dr. Petrella has served as interim dean of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory since 2017. She joined the faculty there in 2006.

Dr. Petrella holds a bachelor’s degree in piano performance and music education from Eastern Illinois University. She earned a master’s degree in piano performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of North Texas.