New Dean Appointments for Four Women Professors

Ayana Allen-Handy has been named dean of the School of Education at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. For the past 10 years, she has been a faculty member at Temple University in Philadelphia, most recently serving as a professor of urban education and chair of the department of policy, organization, and leadership in the School of Education. Her research focuses on the social foundations and social contexts of education, urban teacher education, and youth-led and community-engaged research.

Dr. Allen-Handy earned dual bachelor’s degrees in management and society and Spanish from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She holds a master of education degree from the University of St. Thomas in Houston and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction with a concentration in urban education from Texas A&M University.

Following more than a year of interim service, Margaret Meserve has been officially named the Edward H. Arnold Dean of the Hesburgh Libraries at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. For the past two years, she has been the university’s vice president and associate provost for academic space and support. A historian of the Italian Renaissance, she also teaches as a professor of history. Her most recent book is Papal Bull: Politics, Propaganda, and Print in Renaissance Rome (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2021).

Dr. Meserve is a graduate of Harvard University, where she majored in classics. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Renaissance history from the University of London.

Michelle B. Hayes is the new dean of the division of education and social sciences at Talladega College in Alabama. She most recently served as executive director of College Admissions Made Possible, a college access and readiness organization headquartered in Birmingham. Previously, she was a professor at Stillman College in Alabama. Her scholarship centers on social emotional learning, transformational leadership, and instructional leadership.

Dr. Hayes holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Troy University in Alabama, a master’s degree in education administration from the University of South Alabama, and both a doctorate and an education specialist degree from Samford University.

Carolyn K. Clevenger has been named the founding dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Georgia, where she will also teach as a professor in the division of geriatric medicine. She has been serving as a professor of nursing at Emory University and founding director of Integrated Memory Care at Emory Healthcare. An expert in advanced practice nursing, geriatrics, and gerontology, Dr. Clevenger focuses her research on models of care for people living with dementia, psychoeducational programs for dementia family caregivers, and the geriatric health workforce.

Dr. Clevenger received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from West Virginia University, a master’s degree in gerontology nursing from Emory University, and a doctor of nursing practice degree from the Medical College of Georgia. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Veterans Health Administration.

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