Catherine Armwood has been appointed dean of the School of Architecture and Construction Science at Tuskegee University in Alabama. Currently, she serves as associate dean of research and graduate studies at the College of Engineering at Tennessee State University. Her engineering research focuses on masonry and cementitious structures and sustainability. She also studies methods to broaden participation in STEM, workforce development, service learning, and professional development for faculty and students.
Dr. Armwood holds a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from Tennessee State University and a Ph.D. in the same discipline from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Charleen McNeill has been named dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of Southern Mississippi. She comes to her new role from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, where she currently serves as a professor and executive associate dean of academic affairs in the College of Nursing. In her research, she focuses on emergency shelter placement and community health issues.
With four degrees in nursing, Dr. McNeill holds an associate’s degree from Coastal Georgia Community College, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas, a master’s degree from the University of Texas at El Paso, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Tyler.
Leah Z. FitzGerald has been appointed dean of the Mervyn M. Dymally College of Nursing at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, California. She has extensive leadership experience in nursing education, previously serving as dean of nursing at the University of California, Los Angeles and as the Fletcher Jones Endowed Chair in Community Partnerships at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles. More recently, she was director of the division of nursing and public health at the Health Resources and Services Administration.
Dr. FitzGerald earned her Ph.D. in nursing from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Brianne Hobbs is the new dean of the Chicago College of Optometry at Midwestern University in Downers Grove, Illinois. She previously served as director of residencies and an associate professor at Midwestern University’s Arizona College of Optometry in Glendale, Arizona. Prior to her new deanship, she was associate dean of academics for the School of Optometry at High Point University in North Carolina.
Dr. Hobbs holds a doctor of optometry degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a Ph.D. in instructional management and leadership from Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania.
Megan Adkins has been selected to serve as interim dean of graduate studies and academic innovation at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. A faculty member since 2008, she currently teaches as a professor of health and physical education. Her scholarship focuses on micro-credentials and workforce development, academic innovation and technology, integration higher education pedagogy, and faculty development.
Dr. Adkins received her bachelor’s degree in K-12 health and physical education and community health from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She earned her master’s degree in physical education from the University of Nebraska-Kearney before returning to the Lincoln campus to complete her Ph.D. in teacher education and instructional technology.