Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz has been named dean of Barnard Library. She comes to Barnard College from the division of libraries at New York University, where she has served as the associate dean for teaching, learning, and engagement since 2020. Prior to her current role, she was head of reference for the City University of New York Graduate Center.
Smith-Cruz received her bachelor’s degree in queer women’s studies from the City University of New York. She holds a master of library science degree in archiving and records management and an MFA in creative writing from CUNY’s Queens College.
Jan R. Jurden has been named dean of the School of Law at Wilmington University in Delaware. She has over 20 years of judicial experience in the Delaware legal system. In 2015, she was named the first woman President Judge for the Delaware Superior Court. She was first appointed to the Superior Court in 2001. Earlier, she was a practicing attorney at a law firm in Delaware.
A U.S. Army Veteran, Jurden holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania and a juris doctorate from Pennsylvania State University.
Yarneccia Dyson has been appointed dean of the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston. Currently, she serves as executive director and head of the School of Social Work at North Carolina State University. She previously held both academic and administrative roles with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.
Dr. Dyson earned her bachelor’s degree in social work from Florida A&M University, a master’s degree in social work from Florida State University, and a Ph.D. in social work policy, planning, and administration from Clark Atlanta University.
Kelly Joyce has been named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. A full professor of sociology, she previously held various leadership roles with Drexel University in Philadelphia, including interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and founding director of the Center for Science, Technology, and Society. Her scholarship focuses on medical sociology and science and technology studies.
Dr. Joyce holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Brown University and a Ph.D. in sociology from Boston College.
Roxanne Schroeder-Arce has been appointed dean of the Chaddock + Morrow College of Fine Arts at Ohio University. She will also serve as a professor in the college’s School of Theater. Currently, she is an associate professor of theatre education and an associate dean in the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin
Schroeder-Arce holds a bachelor’s degree from Emerson College in Boston and a master of fine arts degee from the University of Texas at Austin.