A Half Dozen Women Who Have Been Appointed to Dean Positions at Universities

Paula S. Bontempi was named dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Bontempi has been serving as the acting deputy director of the Earth Science Division at the headquarters of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Washington, D.C. Before joining NASA, Dr. Bontempi was an assistant professor of oceanography in the department of marine sciences at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Dr. Bontempi holds a master’s degree in oceanography from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island.

Ophelie Rowe-Allen was appointed dean of students and chief student affairs officer at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. She will assume her new position in mid-July. Dr. Rowe-Allen joins the University of New Haven after 13 years with Fairfield University in Connecticut, where she served as the associate dean of students and director of residence life, associate dean of assessment, and director of student diversity and multicultural affairs.

Dr. Rowe-Allen holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in mental health counseling from St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida. She received her educational doctorate in counseling education and supervision from Argosy University.

Kathryn Boor, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and a professor of food science at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, has been named dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for graduate education at the university. Professor Boor’s research focuses on the biological factors that affect transmission of bacteria in food systems, from farm to table. She joined the Cornell University faculty in 1994.

Dr. Boor earned her bachelor’s degree in food science at Cornell University. She holds a master’s degree in food science from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of California, Davis.

Shelley Johnson is the new dean of the School of Nursing at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. Dr. Johnson served as the founding director and chair of nursing and health science at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. She is the owner and senior consultant for Kairos Solutions, a firm dedicated to assisting educational organizations with program creation, accreditation, and regulatory guidance.

Dr. Johnson is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in nursing. She holds a master’s degree in community health nursing from Pennsylvania State University and an educational doctorate from the University of Phoenix.

Laurie Maffly-Kipp, the Archer Alexander Distinguished Professor in the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, has been appointed interim dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for graduate education, effective July 1. Her interim appointment will be for a term of two years. Dr. Maffly-Kipp, who joined the university’s faculty in 2013, has been serving as one of three faculty fellows in the provost’s office since September.

Professor Maffly-Kipp is a summa cum laude graduate of Amherst College in Massachusetts, where she majored in English and religion. She completed a Ph.D. in American history at Yale Universit. Dr. Mffy-Kipp is the author of several books including Setting Down the Sacred Past: African-American Race Histories (Harvard University Press, 2010).

Heidi Henschel Pellett has been appointed interim dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies at Central Washington University. Professor Henschel Pellett, who joined the faculty in 2005, has been associate dean for the past two years. Previously, she was chair of the university’s department of physical education, school health, and movement studies for five years.

Dr. Henschel Pellett is a graduate of Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She holds a master’s degree from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and an educational doctorate from St. Mary’s University in Minneapolis.