By Delaney Brown
After a seven-month search, the university has chosen a new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Magali Cornier Michael, the former Associate Dean of the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts at Duquesne University, will begin her duties at USF St. Petersburg starting July 1.
In an email sent to faculty Tuesday, Tadlock praised Michael as “a strong advocate for a distinctive liberal education as the foundation for students’ personal and professional lives post-graduation.”
Tadlock also championed Michael as “a leader who understands the role of an engaged university as a steward of the community.”
“I very much look forward to joining the USFSP College of Arts and Sciences and to the prospect of working creatively and collaboratively with its faculty, staff, and students, along with the university as a whole and the St. Petersburg community,” said Michael in a written statement.
“The University’s growth mode offers a unique opportunity, which I welcome, to lead efforts to develop new programs and strengthen existing ones so as to offer an even greater quality of education that meets the distinct needs of twenty-first-century students, while at the same time managing growth judiciously,” she said.
In her role at Duquesne University, Michael oversaw 12 departments, which housing 22 majors and 1,500 undergraduate students.
She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Georgia before earning her doctorate in English from Emory University.
Michael will fill the vacancy left by Dean Frank Biafora, who has served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for the last decade.
