Following over five months of interim service, Kecia Williams Smith has been named dean of the Willie A. Deese College of Business and Economics at North Carolina A&T State University. An associate professor of accounting, Dr. Smith has served as director of the university’s master of accountancy degree program since its inception in 2019. Her scholarship centers on audit quality, regulatory oversight, auditor judgment, and the advancement of diversity in the accounting profession.
Dr. Smith is a summa cum laude graduate of NCA&T, where she majored in accounting. She earned her Ph.D. in accounting from Texas A&M University.
Nicole Hand is the new dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts at Murray State University in Kentucky. Professor Hand, who has served on the Murray State faculty for over 25 years, has led the college on an interim basis since January 2025. Earlier in her tenure, she served as the college’s assistant dean for five years and as associate dean for one year. Professor Hand teaches courses in several disciplines, particularly in printmaking.
Professor Hand holds bachelor’s degrees from the University of South Dakota, Dickenson State University in North Dakota. and Nazareth University in Rochester, New York. She earned a master of fine arts degree in printing making from the University of Miami in Florida.
Rebecca Reed Kantrowitz has been selected to serve as interim dean of Hendricks Chapel at Syracuse University in New York. Kantrowitz began her career with the university in the 1980s as a residence hall director. After holding positions in student services at the University of California, Berkeley and Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, she returned to Syracuse in 2002 as director of residence life. Since 2018, Kantrowitz has served as associate dean of Hendricks Chapel.
Kantrowitz earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in education from Niagara University in New York.