Academic Dean

Christina A. Clark, Ph.D., serves as the Chief Academic Officer at Marywood  University, providing leadership in all academic matters and working collaboratively with the deans, faculty, staff, students, and administration to further Marywood's mission and vision.

Prior to her appointment at Marywood University, Dr. Clark served as Dean of the School of Design, Arts, and Humanities at Marymount University [Arlington, Va.], where she also was a tenured professor of literature and languages.

Dr. Clark’s academic administration skills include strategic planning, program assessment, recruitment and retention, curricular development, shared governance, university advancement, partnership development, and grant writing, among other issues of critical focus in higher education. She has had extensive leadership development experience, particularly at Marymount and Creighton Universities. Currently participating in the Council of Independent College's Executive Leadership Academy, she previously participated in Leadership Arlington and CASE Advanced Development for Deans and Academic Leaders. Committed to action enabling diversity, equity, and inclusion, she currently serves as chair of the Society for Classical Studies’ Committee on Diversity in the Profession and has served on the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences’ Committee on Cultural Diversity.

Dr. Clark’s professional specialty is in classics. As a scholar, Dr. Clark focuses on the representation of gender and nonverbal behavior in ancient Greek and Roman poetry and her professional contributions and research include peer-reviewed books, book chapters, articles, papers, and reviews. Dr. Clark has been recognized for her accomplishments and contributions with the Gamma Phi Beta’s Shine (Teaching) Award at Creighton University and “Iggy” Award for Outstanding Freshmen Mentors, Role Models, and Advocates, also at Creighton. A member of the Eta Sigma Phi and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies, Dr. Clark also was a Junior Fellow at Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies..

Previously, Dr. Clark served as director of the world literature program and the health administration and policy program at Creighton University [Omaha, Neb.], where she also chaired the Classical and Near Eastern Studies department and served as a professor. She has served internationally as an associate professor at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies [Rome, Italy] and has taught in the United States at Iowa State University [Ames, Iowa]; Bowdoin College [New Brunswick, Maine]; Gustavus Adolphus College [St. Peter, Minn.]; Florida State University [Tallahassee, Fla.], and the University of Wisconsin-Madison [Madison, Wisc.].

Growing up in a military family and living in many different areas of the United States as well as the Philippines, Dr. Clark earned a BA in Classics from Georgetown University and a MA and PhD in Classics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During her undergraduate education, Dr. Clark spent her junior year abroad at Trinity College [Dublin, Ireland].

Paul Gladen is the Director of Accelerate Montana, the University of Montana’s portfolio of economic and workforce development programs.

Paul is a co-founder of the Montana Code School and the Hellgate Venture Network, an entrepreneurial networking group.  He also serves on the Board of the Missoula Economic Partnership and was the 2017 Montana Ambassador Educator of the Year.

Originally from England, Paul has an MA in Mathematics from Oxford University and an MBA from Manchester Business School.

Dr. Greg Feeney is Provost at Bluegrass Community and

J. Kim McNutt is currently in his 8th year as Dean of the College of Extended & International Education at California State University Dominguez Hills.  The self-support college generates nearly $18M annually in tuition, delivering a portfolio of nearly 50 online and classroom-based education and training programs.  The educational offerings cover the entire lifelong learning spectrum.  He has co-launched several new programs at CSUDH including new master’s degree in Cyber Security and a new MS in Systems Engineering. A graduate degree in Radiologic and Imaging Sciences launched Spring 2021 and can be completed in 12 months. A new MS in Accounting is rolling out Fall 2023.

His college is leading a new initiative to reengage “stopped out” CSUDH students to come back and finish their degree through an innovative concierge style service.

His college also led the way as the first Cal State to offer alternative credentials and digital badges to students so they can easily share their skills and competencies with employers more and add it to their lifelong digital backpacks as a Comprehensive Learner Record (CLR).

Kim is a 1st generation college graduate. This drives his passion to expand access to underserved populations, including adult, returning and non-traditional students.

Over a 30-year career, he has worked for public and private universities, including Cal Maritime, SMU, ASU, OLLU and NMSU.

Dr. Elaine Carey is an accomplished historian, acclaimed scholar and passionate academic leader. In 2021, she added dean of Oakland University’s College of Arts and Sciences to the vast list of roles she’s held.

Having originally pursued her Ph.D. in history from the University of New Mexico with the intention of becoming a journalist, Carey’s detour into academia was as unanticipated as it was enlightening. It took hesitantly declining a dream job offer that’s area of focus didn’t correlate enough with her studies for her to make the transition, quickly realizing just how valuable her personal expertise was within the classroom. 

Following her first position post graduate school at The University of Detroit Mercy, she continued expanding her teaching resume through positions at various schools across the nation, whilst simultaneously advancing her remarkable contributions to academic research. Having published dozens of works, she highlights her book Women Drug Traffickers: Mules, Bosses, and Organized Crime as one of her proudest achievements. Instrumental in altering the conversation surrounding women in the drug trade, this source is considered the first to assign focus to the ways in which these women have often been bosses in a number of ways — a focus previously so under explored, several fellow scholars initially assumed Carey’s presentation to be one of fiction. 

Carey’s recent position was founding dean of Purdue University Northwest’s College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences. Arriving in 2017 at the university’s inception, she played an instrumental role in the school’s development, collaborating with faculty, administration, librarians and students across all of the university’s colleges on endeavors such as general education offerings. 

Dean Turner is an experienced higher education administrator, communication teacher-scholar and organizational consultant with an extensive background in gender in the workplace, strategic planning, mentoring, change management, budgeting, education technology and international education. Her focus upon collaborative working partnership has allowed her to support the creation of year-round high school to college programs, assessment practices with 100% compliance, faculty and student mentoring programs, award winning faculty educator/learning technology platforms, budget/mission alignment for net revenue gain, and award-winning international programs. 

Her background in organizational communication and commitment to achieving goals that fulfill an organization’s mission has garnered her the opportunity to serve higher education in a variety of roles.Currently she serves as the finance chair for the ACE Women’s Network of Indiana, Vice Chair of Operations for the Muncie Chamber of Commerce, and Principal associate in Communication Resource Associates, LLC. Prior to arriving at Ball State University Dean Turner served as the executive director for the National Communication Association, Associate Dean at Webster University, and Associate Vice President at Saint Louis University. Her peers elected her to serve as president of the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language and Gender and chair of the Organizational Communication Division of the National Communication Association.

As an award-winning teacher-scholar, Dean Turner has published over 40 books, chapters and articles in the area of organizational communication, specifically on topics of internationalization, organizational socialization, customer satisfaction, gender, midwifery and birth, breastfeeding, and the body.  In recognition of the breadth of her background she has been invited to serve on national and editorial boards including the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration, Journal of Media Critiques, Women’s Studies in Communication, Women and Language, Journal of Applied Communication, Management Communication Quarterly, Communication Monographs, and Communications Studies. 

Dean Turner has earned international and national awards for her meritorious work in the field of communication including a Presidential Citation for Service from the National Communication Association, Fulbright-Nehru International Education Administrators Award for India, Learning Happens Everywhere Award for exemplary collaboration, Faculty Excellence Award and SLU Star Award. Most recently, she was an associate editor for the International Handbook of Organizational Communication that received the NCA Organizational Communication Division 2017 Edited Book Award.

She has presented or consulted for a range of Fortune 500 companies and educational associations, including the Australia and New Zealand Communication Association, American Council on Education, Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico Recinto de San Germán, National Brazilian Education Conference, Institute for Curriculum and Campus Internationalization, EducationUSA Training Institution, Boeing, Energizer.

Kimberly Lawless is professor of education (educational psychology) and dean of the College of Education at Penn State. She earned her Ph.D. in educational psychology at the University of Connecticut in 1996; her M.A. in educational psychology from the University of Connecticut in 1994; and her B.A. in psychology from Boston College in 1991. She joined the College this fall after a 20-year career at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where she most recently held the position of associate dean for research in that institution’s College of Education.

Lawless' research, which garnered more than $30 million in grants and contracts during her time at UIC, focuses on the meaningful integration of educational technology with an emphasis on seventh- and eighth-grade students’ STEM and writing skills development.

She has been recognized throughout her career with several honors and awards, which most recently include the 2018 Distinguished Researcher in the Social Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago; and the 2016 Best Paper Award from the Cognition and Engaged Learning in the Digital Age Conference (CELDA).

Tom Huebner has been described in many ways throughout his career, an energetic instructor, an inspiring professor, a trusted mentor, and a visionary leader.

A native of Kansas City, Missouri Huebner earned a bachelor’s degree in communication and English from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, a master’s degree in speech communication from the University of Georgia and a doctorate in communication from the University of Southern Mississippi. He also graduated from The University of Alabama's Community College Leadership Academy.

An educator for more than 30 years, Huebner began his professional career in 1990 at Southwest Baptist University as an instructor and assistant director of speech and debate. His first experience in Mississippi began in 1994 where he became an instructor of communication and director of speech and debate at William Carey University in Hattiesburg. At Carey, Huebner progressed from instructor to assistant professor to director of admissions and recruiting.

Huebner's ascent into higher education administration really began at Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tennessee in the early 2000's as he moved consecutively from assistant professor and director of speech and debate to become dean of admissions, vice president of enrollment management, and vice president of student affairs.

Moving to Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2010, Huebner was responsible for all student services of the College and began the pursuit of a presidency. Just five years later, he was named president of East Mississippi Community College. During his tenure at EMCC, the community college was twice named an Aspen Top 150 community college and was listed as the nation’s 3rd best community college by SmartAsset. The community college was also one of only four nationwide selected by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to receive an InsideTrack grant. Huebner was also instrumental in the production of the Netflix documentary, Last Chance U, an Emmy nominated documentary series based on the redemption of disadvantaged students through the college's football program.

Dr. Thomas Huebner became the third president of Meridian Community College on July 1, 2018. Since arriving at Meridian Community College Huebner has hit the ground running. In addition to leading efforts to tell the MCC story and elevate the presence of the institution, he has worked to secure multiple grants, including substantial awards for advanced manufacturing, has developed relationships with industry and educational partners, moved the College to develop a number of new industry-relevant programs, renovated campus facilities, implemented a new strategic planning process, and received the Phi Theta KappaPresident’s Paragon Award. He was recently named top 10 over 50 for Meridian and Lauderdale County by the Meridian Star and was recently recognized by the Mississippi Business Journal as one of Mississippi’s top CEOs.

Stefani Gray Hicswa, Ph.D., became Montana State University Billings’ chancellor in January 2021. She is the first woman chancellor since the university’s founding in 1927.

Hicswa served as president of Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming from 2013-2021. Under her leadership, Northwest College achieved the highest completion rate in its history, and launched comprehensive strategic visioning, enrollment management, and facilities master plans. Prior to Northwest College, Hicswa served as president of Miles Community College in Miles City, Montana for seven years.

A first-generation college student, Hicswa holds a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Texas at Austin; a master’s degree in adult, community, and higher education from Montana State University; and a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication from the University of Montana. She was raised in Dillon, Montana, and is married to Scott Hicswa, a consulting forester. They have two teenage sons.

Scott Dolan is a leader and innovator in the development of flexible and affordable online education. He was named dean of the School of Graduate Studies at Excelsior College in May 2019.

As dean, he provides strategic academic and administrative leadership to the School of Graduate Studies, and is responsible for all academic matters, including strategic planning, budget oversight, and curriculum development, delivery, and assessment. Currently, he oversees programs in business, human resources, organizational leadership, data analytics, cybersecurity, public administration, health sciences, and criminal justice.  Dr. Dolan joined Excelsior College in 2014, and has served in various roles including: Director of Assessment and Program Evaluation, Executive Director of Accreditation, Assessment and Strategy, Associate Dean of Business and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies.

Prior to joining Excelsior College, Dr. Dolan worked in the private sector as a Senior Researcher conducting program evaluations of federally- and foundation-funded programs in the P-20 education and health and human services sectors, including projects on the role of technology in education. His experience also includes nearly 15 years as an instructor at the College of Saint Rose, Siena College, Schenectady County Community College, University at Albany, and Excelsior College.

His areas of expertise include assessment, accreditation, strategic planning, and program evaluation, with research interests in complex organizations and political and economic sociology. He is published in his field and has presented widely on current issues in online higher education.  When not pursuing his passion for higher education, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, playing golf, and following his favorite sports teams—especially the Yankees. Dr. Dolan has his PhD in Sociology from the University at Albany—State University of New York.