Five Universities Appoint Women to Dean Positions

Valerie Sheares Ashby was named dean of the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at Duke University, effective July 1. She has been serving as a professor and chair of the department of chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Professor Ashby joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina in 2003. From 1995 to 2003, she taught at Iowa State University. Dr. Ashby holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Marianne Lewis, associate dean of undergraduate programs for the Carl H. Lindner College of Business at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, has been appointed dean of the Cass Business School at City University London in England.

Professor Lewis joined the faculty at the University of Cincinnati in 1996 and has served as associate dean for nearly a decade.  She is a graduate of Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tennessee, where she majored in business administration. Dr. Lewis holds an MBA from Indiana University and a Ph.D. in management from the University of Kentucky.

Shannon O’Brien will be the next dean of Missoula College of the University of Montana. She has been serving as the education policy adviser to the governor of Montana.

Dr. O’Brien holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington, a master’s degree in teaching and secondary school studies from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, and a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Montana.

Carol D. Edwards was named dean of the Panama City campus of Florida State University. She will also serve as dean of Florida State’s College of Applied Studies which is housed on the Panama City campus. Since 2007, Dr. Edwards has been dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts and a professor of art education at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

Professor Edwards is a graduate of the Mississippi University for Women. She holds a master’s degree in art education from the University of Alabama and a doctorate in art education from Florida State University.

Mary Margaret Farrell was named the next dean of libraries at Clemson University in South Carolina. Since 2002, she has been dean of libraries at the University of Wyoming.

Farrell is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She holds a master of public administration degree from Arizona State University and a master of library science degree from the University of Arizona.