Colleges and Universities Have Appointed Nine Women Scholars to Dean Positions

Yuqing Melanie Wu was named vice president of academic affairs and dean of Pomona College in Claremont, California, effective July 1. Dr. Wu arrived at Pomona in 2014 as a visiting associate professor and was hired as a tenured associate professor the following year. She is now a professor of computer science at the college.

Professor Wu earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from Peking University in China. She went on to receive a master’s degree from Indiana University Bloomington and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

Keren Yarhi-Milo will be the next dean of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York City. Dr. Yarhi-Milo joined the Columbia faculty in 2019 as the Arnold A. Saltzman Professor of War and Peace Studies. She is also the director of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies. Earlier, she served on the faculty at Princeton University for 10 years. Her most recent books are Knowing the Adversary: Leaders, Intelligence, and Assessment of Intentions in International Relations (Princeton University Press, 2014) and Who Fights for Reputation: The Psychology of Leaders in International Conflict (Princeton University Press, 2018).

Dr. Yarhi-Milo is a graduate of Columbia University and earned a Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania.

Akilah Carter-Francique was appointed dean of Education, Health, and Human Services at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Carter-Francique formerly served as an associate professor of African American studies and executive director of the Institute for the Study of Sport, Society and Social Change at San José State University in California.

A native of Topeka, Kansas, Dr. Carter-Francique earned a bachelor’s at the University of Houston, where she double majored in kinesiology and psychology and was a student-athlete in track and field. She earned a master’s degree in kinesiology and a doctorate in sports studies at the University of Georgia.

Deborah R. Marinski has been named as the interim dean of Ohio University Southern in Ironton for the coming academic year. She is an associate professor of history and has been on the faculty since 2014.

Dr. Marinski holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history and a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Toledo in Ohio.

Kimberly Griffin was appointed dean of the College of Education at the University of Maryland College Park. Dr. Griffin currently serves as professor and associate dean of graduate studies and faculty affairs for the College of Education. She joined the University of Maryland in 2012 as an associate professor in the department of counseling, higher education, and special education.

Dr. Griffin holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Stanford University. She earned a master’s degree in education policy and leadership from the University of Maryland and a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in higher education and organizational change from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Alyssa Crittenden will serve as the vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate College at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, effective July 1. Dr. Crittenden, an anthropologist and human biologist, has been a faculty member at the university for over a decade.

Professor Crittenden holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She earned master’s and doctoral degrees in anthropology from the University of California, San Diego.

Kimberly White-Smith is the new dean of the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego. She was dean of the LaFetra College of Education at the University of La Verne in California. Earlier, Dr. White-Smith was associate dean of the College of Educational Studies at Chapman University in Orange, California.

Dr. White-Smith is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. She earned a master’s degree at Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City. Dean White-Smith holds a doctorate in learning and instruction from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Glenda Gillaspy has been named the next dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Since 1998, she has been a professor of biochemistry in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech and served as head of the department since 2015. Her research focuses on a signaling pathway in plants critical for their response to nutrients.

Professor Gillaspy is a graduate of Auburn University in Alabama. She holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Ana M. Franco-Watkins has been named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the oldest and largest college at the University of Kentucky. She has been serving as interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University. Earlier, she was chair of the department of psychological sciences for four years.

Dr. Franco-Watkins is a graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She earned a master’s degree from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and a doctorate from the University of Maryland.