Universities Announce the Appointments of Seven Women to Dean Positions

Sharrel Pinto was appointed dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Belmont University in Nashville, effective July 1. She has been serving as the Hoch Endowed Professor for Community Pharmacy Practice and the founding director of the Community Practice Innovation Center at South Dakota State University.

Dr. Pinto earned her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Bombay in India. She holds a master’s degree in pharmacy health care administration from the University of Toledo in Ohio and a Ph.D. in pharmacy health care administration from the University of Florida.

Stacey Lowery Bretz has been named the next dean of the Getty College of Arts & Sciences at Ohio Northern University, effective June 19. Dr. Bretz most recently held the position of the inaugural executive fellow in the Office of the President at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Dr. Bretz, a first-generation college graduate, earned a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Cornell University. She also holds a master’s degree in chemistry from Pennsylvania State University.

Kristin Gehsmann has been named the next dean of the College of Education at Clemson University in South Carolina, effective September 1. She currently serves as director of the School of Education at Virginia Tech.

Dr. Gehsmann holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in early childhood education from Central Connecticut State University. She earned a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Vermont.

Teresa M. Waters was appointed the inaugural dean of the School of Public Health at Augusta University in Georgia, effective August 1. She is chair of the department of health management and policy and holds the Charles T. Wethington Jr. Endowed Chair in the Health Sciences in the College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky. Her current research focuses primarily on pay-for-performance policies and programs in healthcare

Dr. Waters is a graduate of Dordt College in Iowa, where she majored in accounting. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Maria P. Gindhart was named dean of the College of Arts and Media at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Since 2016, she has served as associate dean of the College of the Arts at Georgia State University.

Dr. Gindhart earned a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in the history of art from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Elizabeth McDermott is the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois. She has served as interim dean during the current academic year. Dr. McDermott joined the University of St. Francis College of Arts and Sciences as a faculty member in the English department in 2016.

Dr. McDermott is a graduate of Hope College in Holland, Michigan. She holds a master of fine arts degree from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Tiffany Sippial will be the next dean of the Honors College at the University of Alabama, effective July 5. She has been serving as director of the Honors College and a professor of history at Auburn University in Alabama. Her research focuses on the experience of women in Latin America. Dr. Sippial is the author of Celia Sánchez Manduley: The Life and Legacy of a Cuban Revolutionary (University of North Carolina Press, 2020).

Dr. Sippial is a graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, where she majored in art history and Spanish. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Latin American history from the University of New Mexico.