Three Black Scholars Appointed to Dean Positions at State Universities

BaShaun H.L. Smith was appointed associate vice chancellor and dean of students at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. He has served in these roles on an interim basis since June 2019. Dr.Smith came to WCU in June 2016 as the associate director of residence life. Two years later, he was named director of residence life. Earlier, he was the assistant director of residential education at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, from 2013-16.

Dr. Smith is a graduate of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where he majored in history. He holds a master’s degree in college student personnel from the Univerity of Dayton in Ohio and a doctorate in educational leadership from Western Carolina University.

Annice D. Yarber-Allen has been named dean of the College of Letters and Sciences at Columbus State University in Georgia. She has been serving as the interim dean of the College since June 2019. Dr. Yarber-Allen joined the faculty at the university in 2018 as a professor and chair of the department of criminal justice and sociology. Earlier, she chaired the department of sociology, anthropology, and geography at the Montgomery, Alabama, campus of Auburn University.

Dr. Yarber-Allen holds a bachelor’s degree in social work and a Ph.D. in medical sociology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She also earned a master of social work degree at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Eric Wilcots, the Mary C. Jacoby professor of astronomy, has been selected as dean of the College of Letters & Science, the largest academic unit at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has been serving as interim dean of the college since August 2019. Earlier, Dr. Wilcots served as deputy dean and associate dean for research of the College of Letters & Science. He has served on the university’s faculty since 1996.

Professor Wilcots is a graduate of Princeton University in New Jersey. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Washington.

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