Five Women Who Have Been Appointed to Dean Positions

Helen Boucher was named dean of the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. She has been serving as interim dean since July 2021. This past July, Dr. Boucher became the first woman to serve as chair of the board of trustees of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Dr. Boucher is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, where she majored in English. She earned her medical degree at what is now the John P. and Kathrine G. McGovern Medical School of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Karlene Burrell-McRae will be the next dean of the undergraduate college at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, effective July 1, 2023. She is dean of the college at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Previously, Dr. Burrell-McRae was associate dean of students and executive director of the Center for Identity + Inclusion at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Burrell-McRae is a graduate of Colby College. She holds a master’s degree in education, a master of social work degree, and a doctorate in higher education from the University of Pennsylvania.

Toddi Steelman, who has served as Stanback Dean of the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University since 2018, has been reappointed to a second five-year term through June 30, 2028. Prior to coming to Duke, Dr. Steelman was the executive director of the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. She is the former president of the International Association of Wildland Fire.

Dr. Steelman is a graduate of West Virginia University, where she majored in political science and international studies. She holds a master of public affairs degree from Princeton University and a Ph.D. from Duke University.

Leah Tolbert Lyons was appointed dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Middle Tennessee State University. Dr. Lyons joined the faculty at the university in 2001. Her research focuses on Francophone literature and film from Africa.

Dr. Lyons is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in French at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Patricia Rhynders has been named dean of the College of Health and Human Services at Trident University International in Chandler, Arizona. She has been serving as associate dean. Dr. Rhynders joined the faculty at the university in 2004 and was promoted to full professor in 2011.

Dr. Rhynders is a graduate of the College at Brockport of the State University of New York System. She holds a master of public health degree from California State University, Long Beach and a Ph.D. in health studies from Texas Woman’s University.