Deans by the Dozen: Large Group of Women Scholars in New Leadership Positions

Guillermina Gina Núñez-Mchiri has been named the new dean of the Imperial Valley campus of San Diego State University. Her appointment will officially begin on August 4. She currently serves as an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Dr. Núñez-Mchiri received a bachelor’s degree in international business and a master’s degree in Latin American studies from San Diego State University. She later earned a doctorate in cultural anthropology from the University of California, Riverside.

Autumn Tooms Cyprès has been named founding dean of the new College of Applied Human Sciences at West Virginia University. Her appointment is effective June 30. She will also hold a faculty position in the School of Education. Dr. Cyprès has been serving as the associate provost for lifelong learning at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Dr. Cyprès holds a bachelor’s degree in health education and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Arizona State University. She earned a master’s degree in educational leadership at Northern Arizona University.

Deborah M. Cady Melzer has been named the next vice president for student development and dean of students at Loyola University Maryland, effective July 18. She has been serving as vice president for student affairs at Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Earlier, she was vice president for student development and Title IX coordinator for Le Moyne College in Syracuse for nine years.

Dr. Cady Melzer earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont. She holds a master’s degree in higher education and student affairs from the University of Vermont and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Boston College.

Melinda R. Roberts has been selected as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana State University, effective July 18. She has been serving as interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Southern Indiana. Dr. Roberts has been at the University of Southern Indiana since 2009, serving as a professor of criminal justice and director of gender studies.

Dr. Roberts holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Maryville College in Tennessee. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in criminal justice from Washington State University.

Kathy Giacomini was appointed dean of the School of Pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco. She is a professor of bioengineering and therapeutic sciences in the School of Pharmacy and has served on the faculty for more than 30 years.

Professor Giacomini is a graduate of the University of Houston. She holds a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences from the University at Buffalo of the State University of New York System.

Mary Stromberger has been appointed vice provost and dean for graduate education at Ohio State University. She has been serving as vice provost for graduate affairs and dean of the graduate school at Colorado State University. She joined the faculty there in 2001 and held a tenured faculty member in the university’s department of soil and crop sciences.

Dr. Stromberger earned her bachelor’s degree in biology and microbiology at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree in soil science from the University of Delaware and a Ph.D. in soil science from Oregon State University.

Linda Haddad has been named dean of the Loewenberg College of Nursing at the University of Memphis, effective August 1. Dr. Haddad is an Irwin Belk distinguished professor and currently the director of the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Earlier, she served as the associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Florida College of Nursing.

Dr. Haddad earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing in her native country, Jordan. She holds a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in nursing from the University of Maryland.

Valerie Howard has been named dean of the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. effective August 1. She has been serving as vice dean for academic affairs and a clinical professor in the School of Nursing at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Earlier, she was dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania.

Dr. Howard earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree in nursing education and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

Sonya Hardin was appointed dean of the nursing school at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. She was a tenured professor and dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Louisville.

Dr. Hardin holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She holds an MBA from Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, North Carolina, and a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.

Cindy D. Kam will be the new dean of faculty affairs for the College of Arts and Science at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. She is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor and professor of political science at the university. Dr. Kam joined the faculty at the university in 2008.

Professor Kam holds a bachelor’s degree in public and international affairs from Princeton University in New Jersey. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan.

Andrea Hickerson is joining the University of Mississippi as dean of the School of Journalism and New Media, effective July 1. She has been serving as a professor and director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina. Earlier, she taught at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.

Dr. Hickerson earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and international relations at Syracuse University in New York. She holds a master’s degrees in journalism and Middle Eastern studies from the University of Texas, and a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Washington.

Vicki Ellingrod, the John Gideon Searle Professor and professor of pharmacy at the University of Michigan, has been named the next dean of the university’s College of Pharmacy. Dr. Ellingrod joined the faculty in 2006 and has been serving as a senior associate dean at the college, and also as a professor of psychiatry in the university’s medical school.

Dr. Ellngrod earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy in 1992 and a pharmacy doctorate in 1994, both from the University of Minnesota.