Ivan Allen College Announces New Executive Leadership Team

Posted July 19, 2021

The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts announced a redesigned Executive Leadership Team, effective August 1. The appointments of three new associate deans are part of the College’s reorganization to create a structure to help efficiently, effectively, and equitably accomplish its goals and priorities.

“The goal of the executive leadership team reorganization of responsibilities is to allow our College to align with our peer institutions and create a pathway for our continued success,” said Ivan Allen College Dean Kaye Husbands Fealing. “I look forward to working with our new team to further refine and achieve the potential of the College.”

The new associate deans are:

Aaron Levine, Associate Dean for Research and Outreach

Levine is an associate professor in the School of Public Policy and a guest researcher in the Division of Reproductive Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is also co-director for Engineering Workforce Development for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center for Cell Manufacturing Technologies (CMaT) and leads ethics and policy research for the center. His research focuses on the intersection between public policy and bioethics.

In 2012, he received an NSF CAREER award to examine the impact of ethical controversy on graduate science education and the development of scientific careers.  He is an elected member of the board of directors of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities and the vice-chair for bioethics on the International Society for Cell Therapy’s Presidential Task Force on Unproven Cell Therapies. He is also a long-time member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

As associate dean for research and outreach, Levine will advise the dean, the college’s executive leadership team, and school chairs on matters related to sponsored, foundation, outreach, and engagement activities and opportunities. He will also support academic and research faculty, and provide resources and leadership to advance the college’s research and outreach profile.

Shatakshee Dhongde, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Dhongde is an associate professor of Economics. She is also a research affiliate with the Institute of Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her research has focused on the economics of poverty. Her research on measuring multidimensional poverty in the United States has been highlighted in the national media, including NPR.

Dhongde is a recipient of the Nancy and Richard Ruggles Prize for young researchers, and the Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Award at Georgia Tech. She is a fellow of the Society for Economics of Measurement and an elected council member of the International Association of Review of Income and Wealth.

Dhongde designed and launched the Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTA) Mentoring Program at the School of Economics; a first of its kind program at IAC designed towards enhancing professional development of graduate students. She has also received multiple teaching awards at Georgia Tech including the CTL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award and the Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award. She served as co-lead of the Ivan Allen College Strategic Plan Study Committee and as a member of the Commission on the Research Next committee.

As associate dean for academic affairs, Dhongde will advise the dean on matters related to the undergraduate and graduate academic programs and student initiatives in the College. She will also ensure the effective and strategic administration of academic affairs in the College to ensure that all initiatives meet the standard of excellence and are supported in pursuit of the strategic mission, vision, and goals of the College and Institute.

Richard Utz, Associate Dean for Faculty Development

Utz is chair and professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC). His teaching and scholarship centers on medieval culture, medievalism, the interconnections between humanistic inquiry and science/technology, reception study, and the formation of cultural memories and identities. He is the author and co-editor of 21 book-length publications and 130 essays and reviews. His record includes service on the editorial advisory board of journals and book series based in Australia, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, and the United States, and the presidency of the International Society for the Study of Medievalism (2009-2020).

Over his career, Utz has been recognized for meritorious research, teaching, and service, including a University Distinguished Scholar Award, an Iowa State Board of Regents Award for Faculty Excellence, and the Johann von Spix International Professorship at the University of Bamberg, Germany. His public interventions on diverse academic topics have appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, and The Public Medievalist, and his work has received mention in a variety of national and international media, including Christian Science Monitor, Forbes, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Gazeta Wyborcza, medievalists.net, New York Times, Sputnik Mundo, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and Time.

As associate dean for faculty development, Utz will advise the dean, the college’s executive leadership team, and school chairs on matters related to faculty affairs. The associate dean for faculty development supports the needs of the faculty community and provides resources and leadership that promote equity, diversity, and advancement of tenure-track, non-tenure-track, and research faculty. 

An interim school chair for LMC will be announced in the next few days. An international search for a new chair will be launched in academic year 2021-2022.We anticipate that the new school chair will start no later than the beginning of academic year 2022-2023.

Each associate dean will serve three-year appointments. They will replace the previous four-person executive leadership team that included:

• Peter Brecke: Assistant Dean for Information Technology and Associate Professor, who will return to the faculty in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs.
• Carol Colatrella: Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Faculty Development and Professor, who will return to the faculty in the School of Literature, Media and Communication. Colatrella will continue to serve as the college’s liaison for the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage and co-director of the Center for the Study of Women, Science and Technology.
• Janet Murray: Associate Dean for Research and Ivan Allen College Dean’s Professor, who will return to the faculty in the School of Literature, Media and Communication. Murray will continue to serve as the faculty director of the Digital Interactive Liberal Arts Center (DILAC).
• David Shook: Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Associate Professor, who will serve as interim chair of the School of Modern Languages for two years, effective August 1.

“I would like to thank Peter, Carol, Janet and David for their leadership as assistant and associate deans and for assisting us with a smooth transition into this new organizational structure,” Husbands Fealing said. “I am confident that each will continue to contribute to our overall success.”