Courtesy Skidmore College
Skidmore College announced that Dr. Dorothy E. Mosby will serve as the college’s next dean of the faculty and vice president for academic affairs following a national search.
Mosby will join the Skidmore community on or around June 1. She will succeed Michael Orr, who will return to a faculty role in the Department of art history.
“Dr. Mosby brings exceptional experience, skill, and leadership that will be key in supporting and leading our faculty and staff,” President Marc C. Conner said. “She also prioritizes students, will be a wonderful addition to Skidmore’s leadership team, and will act as an integral partner in the College’s efforts to support a more welcoming, diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible campus community.”
Mosby most recently completed a two-year term as interim dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass., where she has been a faculty member since 2003 in the Department of Spanish.
She earned a master’s degree in Spanish and a doctoral degree in romance languages from the University of Missouri-Columbia. At Mount Holyoke, she served in a wide range of leadership roles, including chair of the Spanish, Latina/o and Latin American Studies Department, faculty director and resident director of the MHC-Goucher Costa Rica Program, chair of the African and African American Studies Program, and the inaugural associate dean of faculty for faculty diversity, inclusion, and development.
Mosby developed the Racial Equity Research Action (RERA) grants program as part of Mount Holyoke’s Anti-Racism Action plan; worked with faculty governance committees to develop new charges to support faculty diversity; increased hiring of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ faculty and staff; led curricular and co-curricular reform and initiatives; and established data-driven practices for improving equity, student diversity, and student success in academic departments. She is also the author or translator of three books in Afro-Costa Rican Studies, in addition to dozens of essays, chapters, and conference papers.
“Skidmore’s motto, ‘Creative Thought Matters,’ resonates with who I am and the work I have chosen to support. I knew I wanted to be at a college where I could work collaboratively to make a difference and where the dedication and creativity of the students, staff, and faculty would inspire me,” said Mosby.
The national search was assisted by Storbeck Search, an executive search firm specializing in leadership hiring for colleges and universities.