New Dean Appointments for Four Women Leaders in Academia

Kim Jones has been promoted to dean of the College of Pharmacy at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. She has been a faculty member with the university since 2007. For the past five years, she has served as the College of Pharmacy’s assistant dean for students services and professor of pharmacy practice.

Dr. Jones holds a bachelor’s degree from Middle Tennessee State University and a doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Tennessee.

Dena Evans has been appointed dean of the College of Nursing at East Tennessee State University. She comes to her new role from the University of South Florida, where she served as a professor and vice dean of faculty and academic affairs for the College of Nursing.

Dr. Evans holds a master’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received her doctorate in education from North Carolina State University.

Denise Seachrist has been named dean and chief administrative officer for Kent State University at Salem in Ohio. For the past decade, she has held the same position with Kent State’s Stark campus. Earlier in her career with Kent State, she served as director of the university’s Hugh A. Glauser School of Music.

Dr. Seachrist is a graduate of Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio, where she majored in music. She holds a master of music degree in vocal performance from Youngstown State University in Ohio and a Ph.D. in musicology-ethnomusicology from Kent State University.

Kathryn Bezella has been named assistant vice president and dean of undergraduate admissions at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. She comes to Dartmouth from the University of Pennsylvania, where she has been serving as vice dean and director of strategy and innovation in the undergraduate admissions office. She previously served as the office’s director of marketing and communications.

Bezella received her bachelor’s degree in English from Barnard College in New York and a master’s degree in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.