Email message sent to CAHSS faculty and staff by Provost Jonathan Anderson on Jan. 8, 2025.
Dr. Michelle DenBeste to lead the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences beginning July 1, 2025.
I am delighted to share that Dr. Michelle DenBeste has verbally agreed to become the next Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Dr. DenBeste will begin her new role on July 1, 2025.
Dr. DenBeste earned a B.A. in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Washington. She went on to earn both her M.A. and Ph.D. in History from Southern Illinois University. She has a record of publications on women in Russian history and has taught courses as a tenured faculty member on topics such as 20th Century Europe, the Holocaust, 20th Century Russian Women, Women in World History, Russian Civilization, and Revolutions in World History (including the French Revolution). Dr. DenBeste also has vast experience in leading and managing grants, having served as PI/Co-PI and grant-writer for several years on a series of national grants, some of which included Complete College America Intermediaries for Scale Regional Grant (2023), The United States Department of Education Presidential and Congressional Academies for American History and Civics Program (2018-2022), and Teaching American History Grants (2005-2012). She has also led and taught several study abroad trips (to St. Petersburg, Moscow, London, and Prague), and participated as an Administrative Fulbright Scholar to France in 2022.
Dr. DenBeste’s leadership experiences are commendable. She served as Dean of the College of Social Sciences at California State University, Fresno for five years before serving as Provost and Vice President of Central Washington University from 2020-2023. She is currently serving as Interim Dean of the Hasan School of Business at Colorado State University, Pueblo. Some major accomplishments throughout her professional career include reorganizing a university-wide advising structure, creating an Office of Undergraduate Studies, creating a Provost Faculty Fellows program, developing an equity focused summer high impact practices institute for faculty, diversifying hiring at all levels (faculty, staff, and administration), collaboratively drafting a new strategic plan and mission statement at the college level, overseeing the implementation of a new institute for leadership and public policy, and developing a student leadership council. In addition to Dr. DenBeste’s notable academic service, she has a history of community service wherever she goes.
During her campus visit, Dr. DenBeste impressed many with her relevant experience and skills, the concrete examples she was able to provide, and the level of preparedness she showcased throughout the interview process. Feedback from the campus community highlighted her experience with a first-gen student population like that of EWU, awareness of the particular concerns of a regional comprehensive university in Washington State, and her ability to deal with difficult situations at a very high level based on her large breadth of experience in higher education leadership roles like dean and provost.
Feedback from various stakeholders, including chairs, deans, CAHSS faculty and staff, and President McMahan, confirmed that Dr. DenBeste is the right leader for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at EWU. Please join me in congratulating and welcoming her to our community.
I would like to thank the search advisory committee for their dedication:
• Martha Raske, Committee Chair
• Ann Le Bar, Professor, Department of History, Anthropology, and Modern Languages & Literatures
• Jane Ellsworth, Professor, Department of Fine & Performing Arts
• Kass Kebede, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology & Justice Studies
• Kevin Decker, Professor, Department of English & Philosophy
• Kevin Pirch, Professor, Department of Political Science & Public Policy
• Margo Hill, Associate Professor, American Indian Studies Program & Urban and Regional Planning
• Nicholas Larsen, Professor, Department of Economics
• Justin Otto, Professor, School of Libraries
• Freda Gandy, Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Family Outreach Center (Spokane)
Finally, I extend my deepest gratitude to Interim Dean Florian Preisig for assuming the interim Dean role this past year. His calm and steady leadership, coupled with his fair and balanced approach, has been instrumental in guiding CAHSS these past two years.
In gratitude,
-Jon
Jonathan W. Anderson, PhD, Provost and VP for Academic Affairs, professor, School of Psychology
