Five Universities Appoint Women to Dean Positions

L. Song Richardson was appointed interim dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law. She joined the faculty at the law school in 2014 and has been serving as senior associate dean for academic affairs since last year. Professor Richardson is the co-editor of The Constitution and the Future of Criminal Justice in America (Cambridge University Press, 2013).

Professor Richardson is a graduate of Harvard University, where she majored in psychology. She earned her juris doctorate at Yale Law School.

Robin Lightner will serve as interim dean for Blue Ash College, a regional campus of the University of Cincinnati. The college enrolls about 5,000 students. Women are 58 percent of the student body.

Dr. Lightner joined the faculty at Blue Ash College in 2001 has been serving as associate dean of academic affairs at the college for the past year. She is a graduate of Northern Kentucky University and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Kentucky.

L. Paige Fields was named dean of the School of Business at the University of Kansas. She will also serve as the Henry D. Price Professor at the business school. Professor Fields has been serving as dean of the School of Business at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She joined the faculty there in 2012 and was named dean in 2015.

Dr. Fields holds bachelor’s and master’s degree in finance from Louisiana State University. She earned a doctorate in business administration from the University of South Carolina.

Kathleen B. Lustyk was appointed dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the Prescott, Arizona, campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She has been serving as a professor and chair of the department of psychology at Seattle Pacific University.

Dr. Lustyk earned a Ph.D. in physiological psychology at the University of Washington.

Victoria Rich will be the next dean of the College of Nursing at the University of South Florida. She will also serve as senior associate vice president for the USF Health system. Dr. Rich joined the faculty at the nursing school in 2015 and has been serving as an associate professor and interim associate dean of academic programs.

Dr. Rich is a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in nursing and biology. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in nursing administration from the University of Pittsburgh.