A Quartet of New Women Deans

Diana R. Lawson was named as the next dean of the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. She currently serves as dean and professor of marketing at the Herberger Business School at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. She will begin her new job on July 1.

Dr. Lawson is a graduate of the State University of New York at Cortland. She earned a master’s degree in exercise physiology, an MBA, and a Ph.D. from Kent State University in Ohio.

Fredda Carroll was appointed dean of the School of Education at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. She has been serving as interim dean and has 25 years experience as a professor of education at three universities.

Dr. Carroll holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Arkansas State University. She earned an educational doctorate at Vanderbilt University.

Maria Marron was selected as the next dean of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska. She currently serves as chair of the department of journalism at Central Michigan University. She will take on her new assignment on June 1.

Dr. Marron previously served on the faculty at Ohio State University and Texas State University-San Marcos. A graduate of University College Dublin, Dr. Marron earned a master’s degree at Ohio State University and a Ph.D. in journalism and mass communications from Ohio University.

Laura Burney Nissen is the new dean of the School of Social Work at Portland State University in Oregon. She has been on the faculty at the School of Social Work for the past 14 years.

Dr. Nissen is a graduate of Metropolitan State College of Denver in Colorado. She holds a master of social work degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Denver.