A Quartet of Women Who Have Been Named Deans at Colleges and Universities

Kim Boyd, an associate professor, was named dean of library services at Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia. As the head of research and instruction, Boyd previously oversaw the library’s information literacy program and managed the instructional librarians, interlibrary loan department, the access services department, and the library’s marketing and outreach program.

Boyd earned bachelor’s degrees in interdisciplinary studies and women’s studies from Georgia State University. She holds a master of library and information sciences degree from Valdosta State University in Georgia.

Jennifer Mueller-Phillips, the KPMG professor and associate dean for academic affairs, has been named interim dean for the Harbert College of Business at Auburn University in Alabama. Dr. Mueller-Phillips joined the university in 2000 as an assistant professor of accounting. In 2016, she was appointed director of the School of Accountancy.

Dr. Mueller-Phillips is a graduate of Jacksonville State University in Alabama. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in accounting from Virginia Tech.

Crystal Shannon has been named dean of the College of Health and Human Services at Indiana University Northwest in Gary. She is an associate professor of nursing at the university. Dr. Shannon began at IU Northwest in 2007 as a lecturer in the School of Nursing and since has held increasingly responsible faculty and academic administration appointments. From 2017 to 2021, she served as the associate director of graduate programs in the School of Nursing.

Dr. Shannon holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from National Louis University in Chicago. She holds a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Phoenix, an MBA from Indiana University Northwest, and a Ph.D. in public health education and promotion from Walden University.

Patsy Collins Bandes is the new dean for the School of the Arts at Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts. Bsndes spent the last 18 years with the Boston Conservatory at the Berklee College of Music. She first joined the Conservatory as the production stage manager in 2004, joined the theatre and dance faculty in 2006, and served as chair of the Conservatory’s Theater Division from 2018 to 2022.

Bandes holds a bachelor’s degree in theatre with an emphasis in directing from the University of Northern Colorado. She earned a master’s degree in liberal arts with a concentration in dramatic arts from Harvard University Extension School.