Colleges and Universities Appoint Five Women to Dean Positions

Nathania Montes is the new dean of student affairs at the College of DuPage in Illinois. Dr. Montes has been on the staff at the college for 18 years, serving most recently as interim dean of student development.

Dr. Montes is a graduate of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto will be the next dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. She has been serving as the assistant dean for civic engagement at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. She will begin her new duties in January.

Dr. DeFrancesco Soto earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and Latin American studies at the University of Arizona. She holds a  master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from Duke University.

Michelle McQueen-Williams was appointed interim dean of the School of Education at Virginia Union University in Richmond. She has been serving as executive director of P-12 experiences and educational initiatives at the university.

Dr. McQueen-Williams is a graduate of Virginia Union University, where she majored in journalism. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in educational leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Sonia Cardenas was appointed dean of the faculty, vice president for academic affairs, and chief academic officer at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Dr. Cardenas joined the Trinity College faculty in 2001. She is the author of Conflict and Compliance: State Responses to International Human Rights Pressure (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007) and Human Rights in Latin America: A Politics of Terror and Hope (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009).

Dr. Cardenas is a graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.

Julia Wilson was named interim dean of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications at Hampton University in Virginia. Wilson joined the university’s faculty in the spring semester of 2021 and will continue teaching international journalism and communications while serving as dean. She is the CEO and Founder of Wilson Global Communications USA, a strategic international public affairs and marketing communications consultancy based in Washington, D.C.

Wilson is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where she majored in journalism.