Samford University has named Dawn McCormack, an Egyptologist, as the first female dean of the Howard College of Arts and Sciences, effective July 1.

McCormack succeeds Timothy D. Hall, dean since 2016.

McCormack earned her B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. She has led numerous archaeological excavations.

“I have been to Egypt around 25 times,” McCormack said. “As I worked with research teams and eventually led them, I realized that teaching was important to me. I also loved the administrative, leadership parts of my projects. I hired large teams of local villagers, had a house staff, managed my research team, worked with various Egyptian authorities, and managed my budget, among many other, often unpredictable tasks that would emerge.”

For the past four years, McCormack has been associate dean of the Middle Tennessee State University College of Graduate Studies.

She also served as interim co-director and then director of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.

She was an assistant and then associate dean at the College of Liberal Arts from 2014 until 2019 and served as the director of the Master’s in the Liberal Arts program and interim director and chair of Global Studies and Human Geography.

“I am honored to join Howard College of Arts and Sciences,” McCormack said in a statement released by Samford. “The college plays a fundamental role in providing all undergraduate students with a high-quality liberal arts-based education. I look forward to joining the Samford University family of faculty, students and alumni and contributing to the mission of this nationally recognized Christian institution.”