Colleges and Universities Announce the Appointment of Five Women to Dean Positions

Linda Kean, professor of communication, has been appointed dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, effective July 1. Dr. Kean has served as interim dean since July 1, 2021. Earlier, she was the director of the School of Communication at the university.

Dr. Kean received a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Illinois. She holds master’s and doctoral degrees in communication arts from the University of Wisconsin.

Stacey Swearingen White will be the next dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Currently, she is the director of the School of Public Affairs & Administration at the University of Kansas, where she has taught since 1998.

Professor Swearington White is a graduate of Emory University in Atlanta, where she majored in philosophy. She holds a master’s degree in environmental studies from the University of Montana and a Ph.D. in land resources from the Unversity of Wisconsin-Madison.

Stella Bridgeman is the new dean of the Magnolia Avenue Campus of Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee. Most recently, she was the director of first-year programs at the University of Tennessee. Earlier, she was the assistant director of the Student Success Center at the University of Tennessee.

Bridgeman holds three degrees from Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville.

Karen Kornweibel will be the next dean of the Honors College at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, effective July 1. She is associate dean for academics in the Honors College and professor of English at East Tennessee State University, where she has taught since 2007

Dr. Kornweibel earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Texas at Austin with concentrations in Latin American literature, African American literature, and nineteenth-century Russian prose.

Lakesia Tucker has been appointed acting dean of the College of Graduate & Professional Studies at South Carolina State University. Dr. Tucker is a professor in the university’s social work program. She joined the faculty in 2014 as a visiting professor and later became a full-time faculty member. Dr. Tucker has more than five years of administrative experience as the social work program’s director and serves as acting department chair in the department of human services.

Professor Tucker received a bachelor’s degree in special education from Columbia College in South Carolina and a master’s degree in social work from the University of South Carolina. She completed an educational doctorate in human services administration from Nova Southeastern University.