Four African American Women Appointed to Dean Positions in Higher Education

Taléa R. Drummer-Ferrell is the new dean of students at Kent State University in Ohio. She has been serving as interim dean since last October. Earlier, Dr. Drummer-Ferrell served as director of Kent State’s Student Multicultural Center.

Dr. Drummer-Ferrell is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she majored in family studies. She holds a master’s degree in college student personnel from the University of Louisville and a Ph.D. in higher education administration and student personnel from Kent State.

Dorie J. Gilbert will be the next dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Prairie View A&M University in Texas. She has been serving as dean of graduate studies at the university. Before coming to Prairie View, Dr. Gilbert was professor and director of the master of social work program at Norfolk State University in Virginia. Earlier, she taught at the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin for 20 years.

A native Texan, Dr. Gilbert received a bachelor’s degree in engineering management, a master of social work degree, and a Ph.D. in social work, all from the University of Texas at Austin.

Cheryl Anderson, an epidemiologist known for her insights about how diet and nutrition factor into the development of heart and kidney disease and cancer, has been named founding dean of Wertheim School of Public Health the University of California, San Diego. She will be the first Black woman dean in the nearly 60-year history of the campus. She is a professor of public health education at the university and joined the faculty in 2012.

Dr. Anderson earned a bachelor’s degree at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She holds a master of public health degree from the University of North Carolina and a master’s degree and a doctorate in epidemiology from the University of Washington.

Aarika Camp was named vice president and dean of students at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Camp has been serving as the associate dean of student services at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. Earlier in her career, she held student affairs posts at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and Florida International University.

Dr. Camp is a graduate of the University of Miami, where she majored in women’s literature and political science. She holds a master’s degree in college student personnel from the University of Florida and a doctorate in higher education leadership from Florida Atlantic University.