University Of Alaska Anchorage: TODAY: Open Forum With UAA College Of Arts & Sciences Dean Finalist

Press release from the University of Alaska Anchorage:

April 15, 2021

UAA Campus Community,

Information regarding the College of Arts & Sciences Dean finalists is now available.
For updates on the information listed here, finalist backgrounds and survey links,
please see the UAA Leadership page.        

Kyoko AmanoOpen Forum: Monday, April 12, 1-2 p.m.Access all recordings

Feedback survey for Kyoko Amano: surveymonkey.com/r/UAAKAThis survey will close Friday, April 16 at 5 p.m. AKDT.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Kyoko Amano came to the U.S. to study American Literature in
1995. She earned her tenure and the rank of full professor at the University of Indianapolis,
where she served as the Associate Director of the Honors College and the English Department
Chair.  A thoughtful and collaborative educator-leader, she is committed to diversity,
equity, and inclusion. Her professional goals include creating an environment where
the demographics of faculty, staff, and administrators mirror that of students; and
closing the access and achievement gaps between underrepresented groups of students
and traditionally well-represented groups of students. In addition to American Literature,
her expertise includes peace studies. She taught a short-term, faculty-led travel
course, Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Study, that was funded by the Japan Foundation. Her
creative non-fiction piece about her uncle, an atomic bomb victim, and Mr. Matsushima,
an atomic bomb survivor, titled “Different Summers—Hiroshima” was published in New
Madrid: Journal of Contemporary Literature. Currently, she is the Dean of the College
of Liberal Arts and Education at Lock Haven University.

Simon A. Kattenhorn, Ph.D.Open Forum: Tuesday, April 13, 1-2 p.m.Access all recordings

Feedback survey for Simon Kattenhorn: surveymonkey.com/r/UAASK This survey will close Friday, April 16 at 5 p.m. AKDT.

Simon Kattenhorn serves as Associate Dean of Math & Natural Sciences and Social Sciences
and Interim Director and Professor of Geological Sciences in the College of Arts and
Sciences at UAA. He previously held positions at the University of Idaho, where he
was a tenured professor of geology, and ConocoPhillips. He holds a PhD from Stanford
University, MS degrees from the University of Akron and the University of Natal-Durban,
South Africa, and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. He has taught
15 unique courses, mentored 25 graduate and 11 undergraduate student researchers,
and has published extensively in the fields of structural geology and planetary geoscience.
He has developed numerous research and teaching partnerships across the world with
other academic institutions and the business sector. As an administrator at UAA for
5 years, he has been committed to student success across the liberal arts spectrum,
curriculum and program development, responsible budget management, shared governance,
and promoting an inclusive environment that affords equitable opportunities and values
UAA’s diverse student body, faculty, and staff.

Marcela KostihovaOpen Forum: Wednesday, April 14, 1-2 p.m.Access all recordings

Feedback survey for Marcela Kostihova: surveymonkey.com/r/UAAMKThis survey will close Friday, April 16 at 5 p.m. AKDT.

Marcela Kostihova was born in Prague, then the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (now
Czech Republic). As an undergraduate, she studied Mathematics, Environmental Studies
graduating Magna Cum Laude with a double major in English and German in 1998. She
earned her PhD in English with a minor in Feminist Studies from the University of
Minnesota in 2004. In 2004 she accepted a faculty position at Hamline University in
St. Paul, MN, where she taught a range of courses in English, Women’s Studies, and
Global St. In 2013, Kostihova was appointed Associate Dean of the College of Liberal
Arts, earning promotion to Professor in 2015. A leadership change at the University
led to her appointment as Interim Dean of the College in summer 2015, in which capacity
she undertook an accelerated program and curricular review, strategic planning, as
well as administrative restructuring that moved the her to the School of Education
into the College in 2016. Now Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Kostihova leads
an academic unit serving about 1,800 undergraduate and 900 graduate students.

Jenny McNultyOpen Forum: Thursday, April 15, 1-2 p.m.

Feedback survey for Jenny McNulty: surveymonkey.com/r/UAAJM This survey will close Friday, April 16 at 5 p.m. AKDT.

Dr. Jenny McNulty has extensive leadership experience in higher education. She is
currently the Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic and Student Affairs
at the University of Montana Western (UMW) and a tenured full professor at the University
of Montana (UM). She previously served at UM as Assoc. Dean and Interim Dean of the
College of Humanities and Sciences. Working collaboratively, she helped establish
a first-year seminar at UMW, she created a College-wide Academic Advising Center at
UM, and she established a mentoring program for women in Ethiopia during her Fulbright
experience. Dr. McNulty is a mathematician, with a Ph.D. from the University of North
Carolina, who strongly believes that a well-rounded education, grounded in the liberal
arts and sciences, best serves students today and in the future. When not at work,
she can be found on the ice rink playing hockey, in the mountains with her two dogs,
or on the river with her sons.

For updates on the information listed here, finalist backgrounds and survey links,
please visit the UAA Leadership page.

This press release was produced by the University of Alaska Anchorage. The views expressed here are the author’s own.