Rosario Ceballo, a University of Michigan alumna and former faculty member, has been appointed dean of LSA, the university’s largest academic unit, effective Aug. 15.
Ceballo currently is the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and professor of psychology at Georgetown University.
The Board of Regents approved her appointment to a five-year renewable term June 20, along with appointments as a professor of psychology, with tenure, and of women’s and gender studies, without tenure.
Laurie McCauley, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, recommended Ceballo for the deanship following a national search.
“Professor Ceballo exemplifies the values that make LSA such a vibrant and dynamic college: impeccable scholarship, creativity, integrity and a commitment to inclusivity,” McCauley said.
“She is an accomplished dean, an award-winning teacher, and her roots here at Michigan run deep. I am confident her compelling vision for LSA’s future and deep institutional knowledge will prove invaluable as she guides the college into its next chapter.”
She will succeed Anne Curzan, who will return to the LSA faculty, where she is a professor of English language and literature, and of linguistics. Curzan also is a professor of education in the Marsal Family School of Education.
Timothy McKay, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, professor of physics and astronomy, and associate dean for undergraduate education in LSA, and professor of education in the Marsal Family School of Education, will serve as interim LSA dean July 1-Aug. 14, prior to Ceballo’s arrival and following Curzan’s transition to the LSA faculty July 1.
Ceballo began her academic career at U-M as an assistant professor of psychology and of women’s and gender studies in 1997, and remained on faculty for 26 years.
In 2004, she was promoted to associate professor with tenure, and to full professor in 2014. She chaired the Department of Women’s Studies from 2015-18, and was associate dean for social sciences from 2018-21.
She served on the Advisory Board for Poverty Solutions at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, the Institute for Social Research Executive Committee, the LSA Strategic Planning Steering Committee, the Professional Latinos at UM Alliance Directive Board and the Rackham Graduate School Executive Board. From 2015-18, she was a member of the American Psychological Association’s Committee on Socioeconomic Status, and chaired the committee in her final year.
She joined Georgetown University in 2022 as dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and professor of psychology, and launched the CAS First Fellows Program to support first-generation students in the college. Her team also launched new programs in public policy and environmental sustainability.
“It is a true honor to return to U-M as dean of LSA. The College of LSA is a rigorous, intellectual powerhouse, a true paragon of liberal arts and sciences education. With world-renowned scholars and a deep commitment to diverse, interdisciplinary research, LSA plays a transformative role in addressing the most vexing problems facing our world today,” Ceballo said.
“I look forward to working with LSA’s extraordinary faculty, staff and students to continue the strong and vibrant leadership that the college enjoyed under Dean Curzan.”
Ceballo is a nationally recognized scholar who has been published widely in journals, including the American Journal of Community Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Journal of Adolescence, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Psychology of Women Quarterly and Psychology of Violence.
Her research focuses on factors that promote resilience in adolescents who navigate contextual risks associated with living in poverty, specifically the effects of exposure to community violence. Additionally, she researches the experience of infertility and the impact of race, as well as class-based stereotypes about reproduction on women of color.
She has received funding for her research from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
Among many other honors and awards, she has received the Women in Psychology Leadership Award from the American Psychological Association in 2010, and the John Dewey Award for outstanding undergraduate instruction in 2014 and the Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award in 2020, both from U-M.
Additionally, she was awarded the El Primero Award presented by La Casa students at U-M in 2021.
Ceballo received her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Yale University. She earned her Master of Arts degree and Ph.D., both in clinical and developmental psychology, from U-M.
She also received a graduate certificate in women’s studies from U-M.
