Five Women Assuming New Dean Positions

LeaAnn Martin was named dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Western Washington University in Bellingham. Martin has been serving as associate dean of the college and as a professor of physical education, health, and recreation.

Dr. Martin joined the faculty at Western Washington University in 1991. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Arizona and a doctorate from the University of Texas.

Paula Casey was appointed interim dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for research at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She has been serving as the interim dean and professor at the Bowen School of Law at the university. She is the longest-serving faculty member at the law school, having joined the faculty in 1979.

Professor Casey is a graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma and the School of Law at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville.

Maryam Alavi was named interim dean of the Goizueta Business School at Emory University in Atlanta. She has been serving as vice dean for faculty and research at the business school and is the John and Lucy Cook Professor of Information Strategy.

Dr. Alavi is graduate of the University at Buffalo of the State University of New York system. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in management information systems from Ohio State University.

Uta G. Poiger was appointed dean of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities at Northeastern University in Boston.  She has been serving as interim dean for the past year. She joined the history department faculty at the university in 2011. Previously, she was chair of the graduate program in history at the University of Washington. She is the author of Jazz, Rock, and Rebels: Cold War Politics and American Culture in a Divided Germany (University of California Press, 2000).

Dr. Poiger holds a master’s degree in American history from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Ph.D. in history from Brown University.

Gail D. Hughes was named interim dean of the College of Education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She has been on the faculty at the university for four years and previously served on the faculty at the University of Memphis.

Dr. Hughes holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and earned a doctoral degree in educational psychology from the University of Memphis.