The Fairfield University academic deans strive to foster a learning environment that cultivates professional work and the development of industry-level skills.
Deans
Meet Our Deans
School of Engineering
Andres Leonardo Carrano, PhD joined as the Dean of the School of Engineering and Computing in 2020, after serving in administrative and endowed professorship positions at various institutions, including Auburn University and Rochester Institute of Technology.
Dr. Carrano earned a BS degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Universidad Catolica AndresBello (the oldest Jesuit university in Venezuela), a MSc from Johns Hopkins University, and a MS/PhD from North Carolina State University. He was appointed as research fellow at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, has served as a Fulbright specialist in Italy, and has held faculty appointments at universities in Japan and Turkey. A little-known fact about Dr. Carrano is that he is part of four consecutive generations of engineers in his family - and that three of those generations have been Jesuit educated.
Dolan School of Business
Zhan Li, DBA, former professor and dean of the School of Economics and Business Administration at St. Mary’s College of California, serves as the new dean of the Dolan School of Business and professor of marketing, following a national search.
During his tenure as dean at St. Mary’s, Dr. Li developed innovative and integrative curricula, student success, and career development programs that resulted in the highest enrollments and revenues in the college’s history at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Under his leadership student retention, graduation, and employment rates improved significantly. He also built strong connections within business and local communities that produced resources, internships, and jobs for students and the school.
Dr. Li received a DBA and an MBA from Boston University’s School of Management, and a BS in Industrial Engineering from the Harbin Institute of Technology, China. Prior to becoming associate dean he was chair of USF School of Business and Management, a visiting professor at the University of California Berkeley, and a visiting professor of Marketing at Peking University. During his time at the USF School of Business and Management he received five Outstanding Research Awards, two Outstanding Teaching Awards, and the Outstanding Service Award.
Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies
Dr. Meredith Wallace Kazer completed her BSN degree Magna Cum Laude at Boston University. Following this, she earned a MSN in medical-surgical nursing with a specialty in geriatrics from Yale University and a PhD in nursing research and theory development at New York University (NYU).
During her time at NYU she was awarded a pre-doctoral fellowship at the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing. In this capacity she became the original author and editor of Try This: Best Practices in Geriatric Nursing series. She was the managing editor of the Journal of Applied Nursing Research and the research brief editor for the journal and is currently editor-in-chief of the Building Healthy Academic Communities Journal.
Dr. Kazer is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters. She published Prostate Cancer: Nursing Assessment Management and Care which won an American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award. Preceding this, she was the associate editor of The Geriatric Nursing Research Digest, and the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Nursing Research. She also published and edited a case studies book for advanced practice, all of which won American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Awards. She is the past recipient of the Springer Publishing Company Award for Applied Nursing Research and the Virginia Henderson Award for Outstanding Contributions to Nursing Research.
In 2014, Dr. Kazer was named among the 15 top adult gerontology professors. In 2015, she was named the 10th most influential dean of nursing in the United States. In 2018 she received the Connecticut League for Nursing President’s award for furthering the mission and goals of the organization. She is an adult and gerontological primary care nurse practitioner and currently maintains a practice with a focus on chronic illness in older adults.
College of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Greenwald serves as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield University. Prior to joining Fairfield on July 1, 2017, he served as the dean of the School of Humanities & Social Sciences at Brooklyn College CUNY.
Dr. Greenwald has a strong background in liberal arts education, having served in both public and private institutions. Before serving as dean at Brooklyn College, he was the executive dean at St. Joseph’s College in New York, and the chair and founding director of the Business Studies Program, dean of Graduate Education, and director of University Partnerships at Drew University, among many other appointments. He has been a teacher of history, business and sociology since 1995, and received his PhD in American History from New York University.
Named by the Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the leading “higher-education thought leaders,” Dr. Greenwald’s extensive scholarship and writings have been published in major national outlets including Inside Higher Education, the Wall Street Journal, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Boston Globe, and New York Daily News, among others.
Library and University Librarian
Christina S. McGowan was appointed to lead the operations of Fairfield University’s DiMenna-Nyselius Library as dean of the library and University librarian in January 2020.
McGowan was named interim University librarian in June 2019, and previously served as assistant University librarian for Reference and Circulation Services from 2011 until May 2019, as head reference librarian from 2003 until 2011, and as senior reference librarian. Her accomplishments include providing leadership in the development and implementation of reference and circulation services, and leading and managing all aspects of the Reference Department with functional supervision of Reference Services, Information Literacy, and Outreach.
As assistant University librarian, McGowan participated in initiatives such as NEASC accreditation and the President’s Institutional Diversity Council. McGowan has supported and advanced the mission of Fairfield University as a cura personalis mentor, as a mentor for the Service for Justice Residential College, and as personal librarian for first-year students.
She earned her MS in library and information science from Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information, and her BA in history from Mount Holyoke College.
