New Dean Appointments for Nine Women Scholars

Erika Smith has been selected to serve as interim dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Connecticut College. In addition to her new position, she will retain her current appointment as dean of the college. Prior to joining the Connecticut College community, she spent over two decades in various academic affairs roles at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

Dr. Smith received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in education policy and management from Harvard University. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in social policy from Brandeis University.

Angela Gilmore has been appointed interim dean of the David A. Clarke School of Law at the University of the District of Columbia. Most recently, Dr. Glimore served as the senior accreditation counsel for the America Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. Before that role, she was a professor of law and association dean at North Carolina Central University for over a decade.

Professor Gilmore holds a bachelor’s degree from Houghton University in New York and a juris doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh.

Ammina Kothari has been named dean of the Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Simmons University, a women-centered undergraduate and co-ed graduate institution in Boston, Massachusetts. For the past three years, she has served as director of the Harrington School of Communication and Media at the University of Rhode Island. Earlier in her career, she served as a program director with the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.

Dr. Kothari holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from North Central College in Illinois, a master’s degree in communication and media studies from the University of Oregon, and a Ph.D. in mass communication and media studies from Indiana University Bloomington.

Gail Orum-Alexander has been named dean of the College of Pharmacy at Marshall B. Ketchum University in Fullerton, California. she comes to her new role from the School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Keck Graduate Institute in Claremont, California, where she served as the associate dean of experiential education, associate dean of academic affairs, associate dean of assessment, and interim dean.

A board-certified geriatric pharmacist, Dr. Orum-Alexander holds a doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Southern California.

Angela Starkweather has been named dean of the School of Nursing at Rutgers University in New Jersey. She most recently served as the Chamings Endowed Professor in Nursing and the assistant dean of research development in the College of Nursing at the University of Florida. She previously held faculty appointments with the University of Connecticut, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Washington State University.

Dr. Starkweather earned her bachelor’s degree from Seattle Pacific University. She holds a master’s degree in nursing and doctorate from Loyola University Chicago.

Theodorea Regina Berry has been named dean of the Bloomfield College at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Since January 2020, she has served as vice provost and dean of the College of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. She is the author of States of Grace: Counterstories of a Black Woman in the Academy (Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2018).

Dr. Berry is a graduate of Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, where she majored in communication. She holds a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction and a doctorate in curriculum and social policy from National-Louis University in Chicago.

Sheila Whitley has been selected to serve as interim dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at North Carolina A&T State University. She has been a member of the NCA&T community for four decades, most recently serving as the college’s associate dean for undergraduate and student affairs.

Dr. Whitley is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she majored in radio, television, and motion pictures. She holds a master’s degree in educational media from Appalachian State University in North Carolina and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Donna Stoddard has been appointed dean of the faculty at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. With over thirty years of experience on the Babson faculty, she currently serves as chair of the operations and information management division. Earlier in her career, she taught in the MBA and executive education programs at Harvard Business School.

Dr. Stoddard holds a bachelor’s degree from Creighton University in Nebraska, an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a doctorate in business administration from Harvard Business School.

Jessica Huber has been named dean of nursing and health sciences at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Minnesota. She most recently served as the community college’s nursing student mentor and program coordinator. Prior to her tenure with Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, she served as director of the undergraduate nursing department at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota.

Dr. Huber received her doctor of nursing practice degree from the College of St. Scholastica.