Last week, Dr. Jennifer D. Keene officially stepped into the position of Wilkinson College Dean.

“I’m excited to begin, and look forward to working with the faculty and staff to build a bright future for Wilkinson College,” she said.

In an email to Wilkinson College faculty and staff, Dr. Keene thanked former Wilkinson College Dean, Dr. Patrick Fuery, for his eight years of dedication to the college and the lasting impact he made on the University. Wilkinson now boasts a thriving research culture that benefits faculty and students because of him and his team. The Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) initiative also promises to offer exciting inter-disciplinary opportunities in the future as Dr. Fuery moves into his new role supervising the CCI program and center within Wilkinson College.

In addition to Dr. Keene becoming dean, we welcomed Sarah Gordon as Wilkinson’s new Director of Operations, to the dean’s staff.

“Sarah comes to us with substantial administrative experience outside of academe, working most recently for Amazon. She has impressive budgetary management skills and even more impressive energy. I encourage you to stop by to introduce yourselves to help her learn how she can best support the college,” said Dr. Keene.

Finally, we would like to announce that Lenae Wilson has moved from Sociology Admin into the position of Senior Administrative Assistant to the dean, however, for the moment, she is busy with another job, having welcomed her first child into the world on June 21, Blake Noelle Wilson.

Congratulations to Lenae and her husband Ryan!

“Enjoy the rest of the summer and I look forward to seeing everyone on August 23rd at the annual Faculty and Staff Retreat,” said Dr. Keene.