People

Jon Western, the vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty, is the chief academic officer at Mount Holyoke College. He is responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership for the College’s academic mission and for supporting the 38 academic departments and programs; Library, Information, and Technology Services; the research and teaching centers; the athletics program; and the academic support offices, including the Office of the Registrar, the Office of Student Success and Advising, and the Teaching and Learning Initiative. Western, a scholar of international relations, has been a faculty member at Mount Holyoke College and with the Five College Consortium since 2000. 

Gary Gillis is interested in the biomechanics and neuromuscular control of animal locomotion. He has worked on systems ranging from swimming fish to running mammals and has been involved in projects exploring plasticity in muscle function and the effects of body size on locomotor movements. Most recently his lab has been using toads to study the control of rapid deceleration during landing. In 2012 and 2013 Gillis served as a Program Officer for the National Science Foundation. Gillis is the point-person for summer student programming, federal grant submissions, and Faculty Fridays.

Encourages faculty recruitment and diversity by providing support to searching departments. Ensures sustainable scholarly operations and activities by managing the academic budget. Contact Christina for: dean of faculty budgets; course evaluations; sabbaticals and leaves; faculty retirement; visitor and staffing requests; faculty contracts; faculty searches and search budgets; Jobs@MHC website; Personnel Action Forms (PAFs); faculty benefits; faculty research accounts; and Report2Web.

Oversees events, major committees, and office management for the dean of faculty. Point person for review and allocations processes to ensure timely and comprehensive submissions. Contact Lauren for:  Advisory Committee and procedures for reappointment, tenure, and promotion; Academic Priorities Committee and allocations requests; department external reviews; dean of faculty events; Lynk Department Rollout; annual reporting; academic departments; department chairs and academic department coordinators. Lauren is the primary point of contact for the Dean of Faculty, Jon Western.

Dorothy E. Mosby is the author of Place, Language, and Identity in Afro-Costa Rican Literature (University of Missouri Press, 2003), which explores contemporary black writing from Costa Rica. Mosby has taught Afra-Hispanic Literature: Black Women's Writing from the Spanish-Speaking World (a January Term intensive, taught in English); Introduction to Latin American Literature I; and Colonial and Nineteenth-Century Latin American Literature.

Bolsters transparency and community by coordinating dean of faculty communications and staffing faculty meeting. Contact Colleen for: Dean of faculty newsletter; faculty meeting; dean of faculty website; Faculty Conference Committee and committee service; emeriti faculty and the Emeriti House; faculty legislation; faculty immigration; digital signage; and donor reporting.

Ensures efficient operations of the dean of faculty's office by managing office physical space and day-to-day functions. Contact Natasha for: travel reimbursement, associate dean scheduling, conference room scheduling, dean of faculty listservs and Google sites.