A Quartet of Women Scholars Who Are Taking on New Positions as Deans

Nicquet Blake was appointed dean of the Graduate Division at the University of California, San Francisco. She will also hold the title of vice provost for student academic affairs. Dr. Blake most recently served as senior associate dean for admissions and student affairs in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

A native of Jamaica, Dr. Blake married her childhood next-door neighbor, a military man who had immigrated to Texas and was serving in the U.S. Air Force. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Washington University in St. Louis.

Allison Brashear has been named dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo of the State University of New York System. She will also hold the title of vice president for health sciences at the university. Since 2019, Dr. Brashear has served as dean of the School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis. Earlier, she was a professor and chair of the department of neurology at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

Dr. Brashear is an honors graduate of DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where she majored in chemistry. She holds a medical doctorate from Indiana University and an MBA from Duke University.

Mary Edith Stacy has been named interim dean of the College of Business and Technology at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. She has been a member of the staff and faculty at Northwestern State since 1992. Dr. Stacy worked in the Office of Financial Aid as coordinator of university scholarships from 1992 to 1998 and as director of auxiliary services from 1998 until 2003. From 2003 to 2011, she was director of enrollment management. In 2011 Dr. Stacy joined the faculty of the psychology department and the School of Business.

Dr. Stacy earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Northwestern State University. She holds a doctorate from  Louisiana State University.

Christina Walsh is the new dean of first-year students at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Dr. Walsh previously served as dean of student engagement at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon, and student engagement coordinator at Oregon State University.

Dr. Walsh is a graduate of Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and earned a Ph.D. in higher and postsecondary education at New York University.