Meet the Associate Deans
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Teresa Diehl is the associate dean of administration. In this role she oversees information technology, facilities, communications, outreach, and a number of budget and leadership related processes for the college. Areas of focus include planning for renovations on our instructional laboratories, restructuring and re-visioning the outreach efforts of the college, and a number of budget-reduction and process-improvement related initiatives.
Teresa came to Penn State in 1996 to serve as the Director of the Department of Transportation Services. Previous to that she performed similar duties at the United States Military Academy where she served as the Provost Marshal’s Office plans officer. As Director of the Department of Transportation Services Teresa managed the transportation and parking resources for 41,000 students and 16,000 employees across 17,000 parking spaces including four parking structures. Teresa also served as an Administrative Fellow mentored by Craig Weidemann, Vice President of Outreach in 2008. Her fellowship was followed by two special projects for the university: a review of the Commonwealth Campus Housing Study and creation of an RFP for a feasibility study and project coordinator for the Pegula Ice Arena project. She is also a graduate of Leadership Centre County, class of 2014.
Today Teresa uses her extensive experience in evaluating, planning, organizing, and directing operational processes on behalf of the Eberly College of Science. She earned her doctorate in Workforce Education and Development from Penn State and a master’s in public administration from John Jay College of criminal justice. She earned her bachelor of science from the University of the State of New York, Albany.
Kristin Finch
Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion
117 Ritenour Building
kef86@psu.edu
(814) 863-5960
Kristin Finch is the associate dean for diversity and inclusion. In this role she facilitates efforts to promote a nurturing climate for all members of the Eberly College of Science community, advances the representation of diverse communities in those extraordinary academic disciplines representative of the college's educational programs, and supports the curricular and co-curricular programs sponsored by the college and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
Kristin comes to the college from Tufts University, where she served as the associate director of the Center for STEM Diversity. At Tufts, she oversaw the Bridge to Engineering Success at Tufts (BEST) program, which used a multifaceted, strengths-based approach to support first-generation engineering students in their transition to Tufts. Kristin also promoted community engagement and educational equity through a STEM outreach program called "STEM Ambassadors," where she cultivated strong relationships with high school teachers and administrators at partner schools in the Boston and Medford/Somerville areas. Additionally, she actively participated on two National Science Foundation grants: one that specifically examined the STEM pipeline for low-income students pursuing graduate education, and a second aimed at promoting early access to research opportunities for historically underrepresented students in the STEM fields. She obtained her doctorate in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and completed her post-doctoral fellowship at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, in the field of drug discovery.
Aleksandra Slavkovic
Associate Dean for Graduate Education
421A Thomas Building
sesa@stat.psu.edu
(814) 863-4918
Aleksandra Slavkovic, professor of statistics, is the associate dean for graduate education. In her role as associate dean for graduate education, Aleksandra will oversee the enhancement of the graduate programs in the college and work closely with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the Climate and Diversity Committee, and the departmental associate heads for equity to foster a positive climate for all members of the college. She will also work with graduate students and faculty in the college to improve graduate student mentoring and training for the full suite of jobs that graduate students will compete for.
Aleksandra joined Penn State in 2004. She has served in various positions in the statistics department, including associate head for diversity and equity and associate head for graduate studies. Aleksandra has affiliated appointments in the Institute for CyberScience, the Department of Public Health Sciences, and the Penn State College of Medicine, and she serves on Penn State’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Director’s Council. She has also held visiting scholar positions at Cornell University, the University of Minnesota, and Utrecht University.
Aleksandra received master's degrees in human-computer interaction and in statistics and a doctoral degree in statistics from Carnegie Mellon University. Her current research interests include statistical data privacy with applications across different domains, algebraic statistics, causal inference, and more broadly the application of statistics to information sciences and social sciences.
Andrew StephensonAssociate Dean for Research and Innovation
517 Thomas Building
as4@psu.edu
(814) 865-9591
Andrew Stephenson, Distinguished Professor of Biology, is the associate dean for research and innovation. In this position, Stephenson is responsible for supervision of the college research administration office and service on several University councils and committees.
Some of Stephenson’s goals for the position include further expanding and strengthening the mentoring of our new faculty and further enhancing the instrumentation and infrastructure of the college so that we can continue to perform world-class research that makes a real and positive difference in the world. Stephenson has been a faculty member in biology at Penn State since 1978. Stephenson earned his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees at the University of Michigan in 1978 and 1976, respectively. He earned a B.A. degree at the Miami University in Ohio in 1973.
Mary Beth Williams
Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education
111 Ritenour Building
mew17@psu.edu
(814) 863-0284
Mary Beth Williams, professor of chemistry, is the senior associate dean for undergraduate education. This position is responsible for supervision of all aspects of the undergraduate education in the college.
Williams’ primary goals are to foster and ensure an environment of inclusive excellence and to enable the academic success of our undergraduate students. She works to use assessment data to drive continuous improvement of teaching and learning in the college, and to enhance advising and the student experience. She strives to recognize and reward faculty for excellence in the classroom, and provide them with assistance and support to improve existing or try new and innovative teaching methodologies via the Center for Excellence in Science Education.
Williams earned her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina, where her thesis work under the direction of Royce Murray focused on the electron and mass transport dynamics in hybrid redox polyether melts. Following a post-doctoral research assistantship at Northwestern University with Joe Hupp, Williams joined the Penn State faculty in the Department of Chemistry in 2001. In addition to her research program, Williams has taught ~ 3100 students in the introductory chemistry course sequence, and served as the chemistry department graduate admissions and recruiting chair. She continues to direct the Chemistry Undergraduate Summer Research Program, with support from the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduate site and from the 3M Foundation, to bring 20 undergraduates to the department each summer for full time research. In 2009 – 2010, she was the acting associate dean for administration and planning in the college.