Pitt announces 4 new associate deans

Adam Leibovich, the Bettye J. & Ralph E. Bailey Dean of Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and the College of General Studies, has appointed four new associate deans, rounding out a fresh slate of multidisciplinary leaders for the school.

Among the appointees is a newly created position: the associate dean for equity, faculty recruitment, and community engagement. Leibovich said that dean will be tasked with making the school more welcoming and helping to increase diversity among faculty, staff and students.

“I want us to be destination workplaces where people can grow, thrive and succeed,” Leibovich said.

And there are more hires to come: “We’re also in the process of identifying additional leadership opportunities for faculty — including appointment stream faculty — whether that’s at the assistant dean level or in different advisory positions,” Leibovich wrote in his announcement. “It’s a priority for me to make our approach to shared governance and decision-making processes as inclusive and representative as we can for the benefit of the Dietrich School and the College of General Studies.”

Get to know the new associate deans:

Adriana Helbig

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and the College of General Studies and Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Music 

Her responsibilities will include undergraduate education, curricular innovation, nontraditional students and online education, and academic student support.

“As the associate dean for Undergraduate Studies and the College of General Studies, I will champion equitable policies that ensure every student’s success in a large urban university,” Helbig said. “This position requires energy that inspires. I will create an environment that allows undergraduates to find their voices and channel their ideas and convictions in ways that empower personal and intellectual growth and contribute to positive social change.”

[Read more: Learn about Ukraine through its music]

Hannah Johnson

Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development and Professor in the Department of English

Her responsibilities will include faculty research, faculty development and mentoring, and external funding.

“I am honored to have been selected as the AD for Research and Faculty Development, and I look forward to working with the wonderful leadership team in the Dietrich School,” Johnson said. “As the new academic year gets started, I’m focused on increasing awareness of resources on campus and collaborating with colleagues across the University to support faculty in doing their best work as researchers and academic professionals. It's an exciting time to be engaged in this work.”

Todd Reeser

Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Chair of the Department of French and Italian

His responsibilities will include tenure and promotion, as well as departmental strategic review and planning.

“During my time at Pitt, I have been involved with many of vibrant interdisciplinary programs in the Dietrich School and directed one of them — Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies — for five years. I believe that the big questions of our current cultural moment are interdisciplinary by nature and, therefore, interdisciplinarity has never been more crucial than it is today. So, I am excited by the part of my charge that will give me the opportunity to help these programs to continue prospering and to make interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching even more available to the Pitt community broadly,” Reeser said.

Natasha Tokowicz

Associate Dean for Equity, Faculty Recruitment, and Community Engagement and Professor in the Department of Psychology

Her responsibilities will include hiring faculty, community engagement, and advising and mentoring chairs, directors and other leaders.

“It is a privilege to join the leadership team in the dean’s office for this new position,” Tokowicz said. “I look forward to collaborating with others to expand the diversity of our faculty, broaden and deepen our community partnerships and build on our recent momentum to increase equitable opportunities in the Dietrich School.”

— Donovan Harrell, photography by Aimee Obidzinski