Colleges and Universities Announce the Appointments of Five Women to Dean Positions

Martha Garcia-Murillo has been appointed dean of the College of Information Science and Technology at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. When she takes office on July 1, she will be the first  woman to lead the college. She has been serving as senior associate dean at Syracuse University.

Originally from Mexico, Dr. Garcia-Murillo earned her bachelor’s degree at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She holds master’s and doctoral degrees in economics and political economy from the University of Southern California.

Kimberly Gladden Burke will be the new dean of the School of Business at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, effective July 1. Since 2012, she has been serving as a professor and dean of the Else School of Management at Milsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.

Dr. Burke holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in accounting from Texas Tech University. She earned a Ph.D. in accounting from Oklahoma State University.

Michelle McEacharn will be the new dean of the College of Business and Social Sciences at the University of Louisiana Monroe. She will be the first woman to hold the position. Dr. McEacharn, who has been on the faculty since 1989, holds the Susan and William D. Banowsky Endowed Chair and is a professor of accounting in the William D. Hoover School of Accounting, Financial and Information Services at the university.

Professor McEacharn holds a bachelor’s degree in business and an MBA from the University of Louisiana Monroe. She earned a doctor of business administration degree from Louisiana Tech.

Irene Herold has been appointed dean of libraries and university librarian at Virginia Commonwealth University, effective August 1. She has been serving as librarian of the college at the College of Wooster in Ohio. She is a past president of the Association of College and Research Libraries.

Dr. Herold holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in librarianship from the University of Washington. She earned a master’s degree in history from Western Illinois University and a doctorate from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University in Boston.

Kathy Taylor was named interim dean of the Collins College of Business at the University of Tulsa, effective July 1. Taylor is the former mayor of the city of Tulsa and former secretary of commerce for the state of Oklahoma.

Taylor holds a bachelor’s degree in journalim and a juris doctorate from the University of Oklahoma.