Two New Deans Appointed to Serve this Year

Faculty from Florida and San Diego colleges hired as replacements

Krista ClawsonTHE SANTA CLARAApril 2, 2014

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]anta Clara is welcoming two new leaders to the university for the 2015-2016 school year.

Deborah Tahmassebi, associate dean of the University of San Diego’s College of Arts and Sciences, will take over as the dean of Santa Clara’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Caryn Beck-Dudley, dean of the Florida State University College of Business, will become the dean of the Leavey School of Business.

Both will begin their terms on Aug. 1.

Deborah Tahmassebi

Tahmassebi was chosen out of 138 applicants considered as candidates for the position of dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, according to Thomas Plante, who served on the search committee.

The president and provost made the final executive decision to hire Tahmassebi.

“I think our search committee and the campus community in general felt that she had great experience and vision,” Plante said.  “I think our terrific (Santa Clara) students will enjoy her engaging and energetic style.”

Tahmassebi has served as the associate dean of program development at the University of San Diego, and is also a professor in USD’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Earlier in her career, she held the position of Department Chair.

Throughout her career, she has aimed to secure funding for programs that appeal to students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds.

She has also worked to build a strong network of women in science, technology, engineering and math using programs that provide undergraduates with post-doctoral fellows.

“For my 20 years as an educator, I have always been very student-focused, and that focus will remain at (Santa Clara),” Tahmassebi said. “I am committed to ensuring that students from all majors have opportunities to integrate the knowledge they gain in the classroom with undergraduate research internships and opportunities to engage with the community.”

Caryn Beck-Dudley

Caryn Beck-Dudley has served as the dean of the College of Business at Florida State since 2006.

In previous years, she was the dean of the College of Business at Utah State University, where she was also Department Head of Management and Human Resources from 2001 to 2002.

Beck-Dudley said she hopes to strengthen the school’s relationship with the Bay Area business community to increase the business school’s reputation.

“One of my passions is working with business people in the community and bringing in alumni to work with the students and departments,” Beck-Dudley said.

At  Florida State, she led “The Entrepreneurial University” initiative.

Her efforts led to a $4.25 million gift from The Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship, the mission of which is to cultivate, train and inspire entrepreneurial leaders.

“Florida State is a very large public school, and this helped create an entrepreneurial spirit around campus,” Beck-Dudley said. “I hired 16 entrepreneurs-in-residence to come back to teach in different departments at the university,  and opened up the entrepreneurial minor to all students on campus.”

She has helped bring in over $60 million in fundraising during her 9 years at FSU.

In addition to her job as dean, she has sat on the board of directors of The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business since 2013.

Contact Krista Clawson at kclawson@scu.edu @scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.