Three Women in the Running for Dean Positions

Mary Ellen Poole is one of two finalists for dean of the College of Music at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is the former dean of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. From 1985 to 2003, Dr. Poole served on the faculty in the School of Music at Milliken University in Decatur, Illinois. Dr. Poole is a graduate of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where she majored in flute performance. She holds a master’s degree from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Illinois.

Sevil Sonmez is one of two finalists for dean of the School of Travel Industry Management at the University of Hawaii Manoa. She is a professor and chair of the department of marketing, entrepreneurship, hospitality, and tourism in the Bryan School of Business and Economics at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Sonmez is a graduate of Baruch College of the City University of New York. She holds a master’s degree in tourism management from Clemson University in South Carolina and a Ph.D. from the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management at Pennsylvania State University.

Annette Ranft is the only woman among four finalists for dean of the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia. She is the associate dean for academic affairs and the Reagan Professor in the College of Business Administration at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Dr. Ranft is a graduate of Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. She holds a master’s degree in management from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.