Four Women Have Been Appointed to Dean Posts

Susan Gallagher-Lepak was selected as the founding dean of the College of Health, Education, and Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Since 2012, Professor Gallagher-Lepak has served as chair of nursing programs at the university. She joined the faculty in 2003 and was promoted to full professor in 2015.

Dr. Gallagher-Lepak is a graduate of Marquette University in Milwaukee. She holds a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Ph.D. in rehabilitation psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Jackie Gardina was appointed dean and chief academic officer at the Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law. She was a professor and chief academic officer at Vermont Law School.

Professor Gardina is a graduate of the University of Iowa, where she majored in political science. She holds a master of social work degree from Boston University and a law degree from the Boston College Law School.

Vanessa Sheared was named dean of the Gladys L. Benerd School of Education at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. For the past decade she has been serving as dean of the College of Education at California State University, Sacramento. Earlier, Dr. Sheared serve on the faculty at San Francisco State University.

Dr. Sheared is a graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois, where she majored in sociology. She holds a master’s degree in education and counseling from Louisiana State University and a doctorate in adult and continuing education from Northern Illinois University.

Martha Walker, a professor of French at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Mary Baldwin College will become a university on August 31.

Dr. Walker is a graduate of Duke University, where she majored in French and economics. She earned a master’s degree in French at the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in French from Harvard University.