Universities Announce the Appointment of Three Women to Dean Positions

Mary Loeffelholz will serve as the next dean of the School of Continuing Education at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, effective March 1. She was dean of the College of Professional Studies and a professor of English at Northeastern University in Boston. She first joined the faculty at Northeastern in 1988.

Dr. Loeffelholz received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University. She earned a Ph.D. in English and American literature from Yale University.

Ann-Margaret Esnard will serve as the interim dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. She has been serving as the associate dean for research and a Distinguished University Professor of Public Management and Policy. Dr. Esnard joined the faculty at the university in 2013. She is the co-author of Geospatial Applications for Climate Adaptation Planning (Routledge, 2018).

Professor Esnard is a graduate of the University of the West Indies-Trinidad, where she majored in agricultural engineering. She holds a master’s degree in agronomy and soils from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez and a Ph.D. in regional planning from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Carrie Anne Platt, a professor of communication, has been selected to serve as interim dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at North Dakota State University. Dr. Platt has served as associate dean in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and as co-chair of the President’s Council on Retention. Her research focuses on the cultural impact of emerging technologies.

Professor Platt is a graduate of Carroll College in Helena, Montana, where she majored in communication studies and public relations. She holds a master’s degree in communication from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Southern California.