Melissa Napolitano is the inaugural dean of the newly expanded College of Education and Human Development at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Dr. Napolitano comes to the university after more than a decade with the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. During her tenure, she served as interim chair of the department of prevention and community health and led both the doctoral program in health behavior and the doctoral program in social and behavioral sciences. She previously taught at Temple University in Philadelphia and Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Dr. Napolitano’s research spans physical activity promotion, obesity prevention, and the use of technology to improve health outcomes.
Dr. Napolitano is a graduate of Yale University, where she majored in psychology. She holds master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Mahalley Allen was appointed interim dean of the College of Communication and Education at California State University, Chico. Dr. Allen currently serves as the university’s vice provost for faculty affairs and the institutional official and research integrity officer. She has also taught political science courses at Chico State and conducted research in judicial politics, constitutional law, and public policy.
Dr. Allen holds a juris doctorate from the University of Missouri and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Kansas.
Valentina Salotti has been named dean of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University. Dr. Salotti comes to Utah State from Iowa State University, where she began her academic career. She most recently served as the Richard A. Carlson Professor of Finance and the senior associate dean for academic affairs in the Ivy College of Business. Earlier in her tenure, she was associate dean for undergraduate programs. Dr. Salotti’s scholarly expertise includes relationship banking, statistical methodology issues in international capital markets, charitable giving, banking regulation, and international asset sales.
Dr. Salotti holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and master’s and doctoral degrees in banking and finance, all from the University of Bologna in Italy.