PROVIDENCE COLLEGE ANNOUNCES NEW DEAN OF SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
(Providence, RI) – Providence College (PC) announced today that it has named Margaret Watkins, Ph.D., as dean of the College’s School of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Watkins, who currently serves as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Seattle Pacific University, a private, liberal arts, Christian university in Seattle, Washington, will begin her tenure at PC effective July 1.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Watkins to the Providence College community,” said Providence College President Fr. Kenneth R. Sicard, O.P. “She brings an exemplary record of scholarship and academic leadership to PC, and we are pleased that she will be overseeing the many aspects of our School of Arts and Sciences going forward.”
“Throughout the search process, Dr. Watkins stood out in an excellent pool of candidates,” said Dr. Sean Reid, PC provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “In our conversations and in her conversations with members of our community, it’s apparent that she is passionate about the programs offered in the School of Arts and Sciences and excited for this role. The dean has a crucial role leading and advancing a wide range of programs and advocating for faculty and students. I’m certain Dr. Watkins will do an outstanding job, and I’m excited for her to get started,” Reid added.
“I am inspired by Providence’s vision of a transformative and liberating Dominican education, rooted in the ideal of veritas, as well as the commitment to care for community and diversity that was so evident in all of my interactions during the interview process,” Dr. Watkins said. “I am very much looking forward to joining the Friar community.”
A College of William and Mary graduate, Dr. Watkins earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. A philosopher specializing in early modern ethics and aesthetics, Dr. Watkins is an expert on the 18th century Scottish philosopher David Hume. She is currently serving as president of the Hume Society – an international scholarly organization with members from dozens of countries. She has published more than 20 articles and book reviews, and her monograph, The Philosophical Progress of Hume’s Essays, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2019. In 2018, she was the David Hume Fellow at the Institute for the Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh.
Dr. Watkins’ work also includes studies of philosophy and literature, race and gender in early modern thought, and efforts to increase inclusivity and diversity in philosophical teaching/learning and scholarship.
Prior to her service at Seattle Pacific, Dr. Watkins served as a professor, Honors Program director, interim dean, and from 2019-2021, dean of the School of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Saint Vincent College, a Benedictine institution in Latrobe, Penn. Dr. Watkins has been at Seattle Pacific since 2021.
PC’s School of Arts and Sciences offers 32 bachelor’s degree programs, four master’s degrees, three certificate programs, and 32 minors in a range of disciplines. One of five schools in the College’s administrative structure, it is home to 18 academic departments and nine academic programs. As dean, Dr. Watkins will oversee nearly 250 full-time faculty members.
Dr. Watkins replaces Sheila Adamus-Liotta, Ph.D., the school’s first dean, who served in that role from 2009 until leaving to become provost of St. Anselm University last year. Joan Branham, Ph.D., associate dean and a professor of art and art history, has served as interim dean over the past several months and will continue in that role until Dr. Watkins arrives later this year.
Founded in 1917, Providence College is the only college or university in the United States administered by the Dominican Friars. The Catholic, liberal arts college has an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 4,100 students and offers degrees in 49 academic majors. Since 1997, Providence College consistently has been ranked among the top five regional universities in the North according to U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges.”
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