David Dees, Ph.D., of Guilford Lake, Ohio, has been selected to serve as dean and chief administrative officer of the Columbiana County campuses. He will provide overall leadership of at East Liverpool and at Salem, two of the Regional Campuses in the university’s eight-campus system. Dees currently serves as interim dean of the Columbiana County campuses, a position he has held since July 1, 2016. He began serving as the permanent dean on June 1, 2017.
“I am so honored to be selected for this position where I had actually started my faculty career so many years ago,” Dees says. “The Columbiana County campuses make such in impact on our area, and I am thrilled to once again be part of this great tradition. My family and I are excited and truly humbled to continue to serve the community that we have lived in for so long.”
Dees’ position reports to Nathan Ritchey, Ph.D., vice president for Kent State System Integration.
“We are delighted that David Dees has accepted our offer to lead the campuses in Salem and East Liverpool,” Ritchey says. “David brings great talent, creativity and enthusiasm to our students, faculty and the communities of Columbiana County. I am confident that with David’s leadership, the Salem and East Liverpool campuses are poised to achieve great things in the future.”
Dees joined Kent State in 1991. Prior to serving as interim dean of Kent State’s Columbiana County campuses, Dees served as director of Kent State’s Center for Teaching and Learning since 2013. He is an associate professor of cultural foundations in the School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration in the College of Education, Health and Human Services. He has a strong record of service, including membership in the Faculty Senate, chair of the Salem Campus Faculty Council and co-director of the Rural Scholars Program. Dees led the steering committee that redesigned the former Faculty Professional Development Center, refocusing the center’s mission toward teaching and learning.
Dees earned his Ph.D. in cultural foundations of education at Kent State, and he holds a master’s degree in theatre and a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Kentucky. His research interests focus on the aesthetic dimensions of teaching and learning, how the human brain works and the impact that rural/Appalachian culture has on learning in higher education.
Prior to Dees’ appointment as interim dean, Stephen Nameth, Ph.D., served as dean of the Salem and East Liverpool campuses from 2012 until his retirement on June 30, 2016.
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