Three Women Who Have Been Selected for University Dean Positions

Maridee Shogren is the new dean of the College of Nursing & Professional Disciplines at the University of North Dakota. She has been serving as interim dean since February. Dr. Shogren has been a faculty member at the college since 2008. She has served as the doctor of nursing practice program director and chair of graduate nursing from 2014 to 2017.

Dr. Shogren is a graduate of the University of North Dakota, where she majored in nursing. She holds a master’s degree in nursing from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a doctor of nursing practice degree from the University of Minnesota.

Donna Riley will be the next dean of the School of Engineering at the University of New Mexico, effective April 1, 2023. Dr. Riley will also hold the title of professor of civil, construction, and environmental engineering. She currently serves as a professor of engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Before joining the faculty at Purdue, Professor Riley taught a Virginia Tech and Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Dr. Riley earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University in New Jersey. She holds a Ph.D. in engineering and public policy from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Melissa Burwell was appointed dean of retention at Xavier University in Cincinnati. She was assistant dean of students and director of student success at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Dr. Burwell is a graduate of Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, where she majored in sociology. She holds a master’s degree in counseling and college student personnel from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania and a doctorate in educational leadership and learning from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.