Andrea Amalfitano
Andrea Amalfitano is dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine. Amalfitano is a highly regarded researcher in developing cutting-edge therapeutics, including gene transfer technologies, and has done work that has led to innovative treatments for infants, children and adults with musculoskeletal diseases. He is a clinician, caring for infants, children and adults potentially affected by a variety of genetic conditions. He also holds an endowed university chair position, is a professor of pediatrics, microbiology and molecular genetics and is director of MSU's Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. Amalfitano earned a bachelor of science in microbiology in 1984 and a doctorate in microbiology in 1989, both from Michigan State University. He earned his doctor of osteopathic medicine degree in 1990 from the MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine's D.O./Ph.D. dual-degree program.
Prabu David
Prabu David is dean of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. Prior to his appointment, David was a professor of communication and associate dean for academics at the Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University. Previously he was on the faculty at Ohio State University, where he held a number of posts, including assistant and associate professor, director of undergraduate studies at the university's School of Communication and faculty associate with OSU's Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Center for Public Health Preparedness. His research emphasis is communication technology and health, and his current research focuses on mobile media. He has served as an investigator or co-investigator on projects funded by the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control, U.S. Department of State, the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
College of Communication Arts and Sciences
404 Wilson Road, Room 287
Communication Arts and Sciences Building
517-355-3410
pdavid@msu.edu
Phillip Duxbury
Phillip M. Duxbury is dean of the College of Natural Science. Prior to his appointment as dean, Duxbury served as chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He joined the MSU faculty in 1986 as an assistant professor, was promoted to associate professor in 1994 and became a full professor in 1998. During his MSU tenure, Duxbury also has served as physics and astronomy graduate studies director, associate director of the MSU Center for Fundamental Materials Research, director of the Center for Nanomaterials Design and Assembly and director of the Center of Research Excellence in Complex Materials. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society. Duxbury's specialties include statistical physics, solar device models, ultrafast processes and accelerator physics. His research is funded by grants from the National Science Foundation. He is also co-PI of a workforce development project in accelerator science and technology funded by the Department of Energy.
College of Natural Science
288 Farm Lane, Room 104
Natural Science Building
517-355-4473
natsci.dean@msu.edu
Mary Finn
Mary Finn is dean of the College of Social Science. Finn had been serving as interim dean in the college since March 2020 and will continue as dean until June 30, 2023.
Prior to this role, Finn served as the director of MSU’s School of Criminal Justice, where she was also a professor. She also was a co-chair of the College of Social Science’s Planning Steering Committee and a member of the MSU Presidential Search Committee.
Finn’s research addresses problems and issues directly related to justice policy and practice. She has collaborated extensively with local justice agencies, advocacy organizations and divisions of the state government in efforts to bridge the world of academia with that of policy and practice. Her research has been funded by the National Institute of Justice, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles and Department of Corrections. She currently is conducting research on how community contexts influence implicit bias in prosecutorial decisions. Her most recent publications appear in Criminal Justice & Behavior, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Victims and Offenders.
Prior to joining MSU, Finn served as the associate provost for institutional effectiveness at Georgia State University and participated in the Harvard University program on Performance Assessment in Higher Education and the Bryn Mawr College Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration.
Jim Forger
In addition to serving as dean of the College of Music, James Forger is a professor of saxophone, an active performing saxophonist and an award-winning recording artist. He was appointed director of the School of Music in 1990, and since then the school (now college) has been recognized as a nationally ranked program. Forger is a member of the Commission on Accreditation of the National Association of Schools of Music and has served as an evaluator and consultant to music schools and nondegree-granting community music programs across the country. In 1994, he founded a new nondegree-granting division of the College of Music, the Community Music School, which enrolls 1,200 individuals each year. Forger has performed throughout South America, Europe, Asia and the former Soviet Union. He has been the guest saxophonist in residence at the International Chamber Music Festival of the Mayan Highlands in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico. He has appeared as soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Rapids Symphony and the Sinfonica de Vientos in Tunja, Colombia.
Jerlando F. L. Jackson
Jerlando F. L. Jackson is the dean of the College of Education and an MSU Foundation Professor. Jackson is a noted scholar on hiring practices, career mobility, workforce diversity and workplace discrimination. He is credited with coining the term “organizational disparities,” or the conditions under which organizations promote disparities, with a keen eye toward disruption of status-quo practices. He is the author or editor of six books and more than 125 research publications as well as the recipient of more than 20 honors and awards.
Prior to joining MSU in 2022, Jackson was the Rupple-Bascom Professor of Education and Vilas Distinguished Professor of Higher Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also served as department chair of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis and the director and chief research scientist of Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory.
Leo Kempel
Leo Kempel, dean of the College of Engineering, has been on the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering faculty since 1998 and served as associate dean for research from 2008 to March 2013. He previously served as the inaugural director of the MSU High Performance Computing Center (2004–06) and associate dean for special initiatives (2006–08). His research is in the general area of applied electromagnetics with particular emphasis on conformal antennas, engineered materials and measurement of electromagnetic properties of materials. He received the National Science Foundation CAREER award and is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society. Kempel received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1989 and a doctorate from the University of Michigan in 1994.
College of Engineering
428 S. Shaw Lane, Room 3410
Engineering Building
517-355-5133
kempel@egr.msu.edu
Christopher P. Long
Christopher P. Long is a professor of philosophy, dean of the College of Arts & Letters, and dean of the MSU Honors College at Michigan State University. Recognized for values-enacted leadership, Long is committed to the transformative power of liberal arts research and teaching by enriching graduate and undergraduate education, advancing equity and inclusive excellence, recruiting and retaining world-class faculty, and creating new opportunities for collaboration among community partners.
He began his tenure as dean of the College of Arts & Letters on July 1, 2015. Under his leadership, several advances have been made to help raise the college’s international reputation, including the creation of the new Department of African American and African Studies, the Center for Interdisciplinarity, the Citizen Scholars program, the Critical Diversity in a Digital Age initiative and the Excel Network. He also has established the College of Arts & Letters as a catalyst of innovation and collaboration at MSU through signature partnerships with the MSU Libraries to create the Digital Scholarship Lab and with the Broad College of Business and the College of Natural Science to create the Enhanced Digital Learning Initiative.
On July 1, 2021, Long assumed additional leadership responsibilities as dean of the MSU Honors College, where his priorities are to enhance the quality of the student experience, recruit and retain a wide diversity of high-performing students, and engage alumni and friends in strategic philanthropy that will elevate the leadership position of the Honors College.
Kelly Millenbah
Kelly Millenbah is dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, or CANR. Millenbah previously served as CANR’s associate dean, senior associate dean in 2018 and then interim dean, as well as associate director of the Environmental Science and Policy Program in the College of Social Science. In addition, Millenbah served as a professor and director of academic programs in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and as associate dean of Lyman Briggs College.
A Wisconsin native, Millenbah holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Ripon College and earned both her master’s and doctoral degrees in fisheries and wildlife at MSU, where she trained as a wildlife biologist. She developed into a scholar of natural resources education with a focus on teaching and learning within the classroom, developing curriculum and strategizing methods to better recruit and retain students in the sciences.
College of Agriculture & Natural Resources
446 W. Circle Drive, Room 102
Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture
517-355-0234
millenba@msu.edu
Birgit Puschner
Birgit Puschner is dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. Prior to coming to MSU, Puschner was professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Biosciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis. She previously served as professor of clinical veterinary toxicology and professor of toxicology at the school. She also worked as a diagnostic veterinary toxicologist for more than a decade for the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, with the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. She received a doctor of veterinary medicine, licensure to practice and her doctorate in physiology from Tiermedizinische Fakultät, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany. Her research draws on and contributes to multiple disciplines that influence animal, human and environmental health. Her research has been funded by organizations that include the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the Environmental Protection Agency.
College of Veterinary Medicine
784 Wilson Road, Room G100
Veterinary Medical Center
517-355-6509
puschner@msu.edu
Leigh Small
Leigh Small is dean of the College of Nursing. Previously, she served as the college’s interim dean, supporting innovative initiatives focused on developing a more diverse student body and caring for underrepresented and rural communities. Small joined MSU in July 2020 to serve as associate dean of academic affairs after nearly four years as associate dean of academic programs at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She has nearly 30 years of experience as a primary care pediatric nurse practitioner and over 25 years promoting evidence-based practice through research. Small is committed to fostering inclusion and excellence in the next generation of health care professionals, positioning the college as a leader in nursing education, research and practice.
Aron Sousa
Aron Sousa is the interim dean of the College of Human Medicine. He previously served as interim dean in 2015 and 2016. In his previous role, Sousa served as senior associate dean for academic affairs at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, a post he's held since 2006. He was responsible for the educational programs of the college across the seven community campuses across the state. During that time he managed the doubling of the college's class size and converting its two-year, 60 student Grand Rapids campus into a four-year, 350 student campus. He also led the creation of a pair of new, two-year clinical campuses in Traverse City and Midland. Sousa is a practicing general internist. He received his bachelor's in chemistry and his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine. He then served as both a resident and chief resident in internal medicine and completed a Primary Care Fellowship at Michigan State University.
College of Human Medicine
Secchia Center
15 Michigan St. NE
Grand Rapids, MI
616-233-1678
sousaa@msu.edu
Cameron G. Thies
Cameron G. Thies is dean of James Madison College and MSU Foundation Professor. Thies is a scholar of international relations who has published broadly in foreign policy analysis, conflict processes, international political economy and international relations theory. He has previously served as editor of Political Science Research & Methods and Foreign Policy Analysis, and now serves as the deputy lead editor of the Journal of Politics. Thies was named the Distinguished Scholar of Foreign Policy Analysis in 2016, the Quincy Wright Distinguished Scholar in 2017 and the Ole R. Holsti Distinguished Scholar in 2020 by the International Studies Association. He also served as president of the International Studies Association in 2019-20.
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