Talk Back: New Deans at Adelphi

In each issue, we insert a survey postcard to ask for your input. 

Effective with the Fall 2012 semester, Shawn O’Riley, Ed.D., became dean of University College, Adelphi’s college for working adults. In the six years he has served as UC executive director, he has broadened the adult baccalaureate program’s scope and introduced several interdisciplinary degree programs, such as emergency services administration and healthcare informatics. 

In July 2012, Barbara Nemeck, Ph.D., was named interim dean of the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business—the first woman to hold that position. Dr. Nemecek previously was dean of the Dillard College of Business Administration at Midwestern State University in Texas. Earlier, she had served for four years on the Board of Directors of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International. 

In 2011, Sam L Grogg, Ph.D., was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Jacques Barber, Ph.D., dean of the Gordon F. Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies. Dr. Grogg had been dean of the School of Communication at the University of Miami. His earlier film financing and producing credits include Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Trip to Bountiful, both of which garnered numerous Oscar nominations. Dr. Barber formerly served as professor of psychology in psychiatry and associate director of the Center for Psychotherapy Research in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. 

In 2009, Jane Ashdown, Ph.D., was appointed dean of the Ruth S. Ammon School of Education. Dr. Ashdown had been dean of academic affairs for teacher education at the City University of New York since 2007.