New Company
University of South Florida St. Petersburg
New Position
Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences
Former Company
Duquesne University
Former Position
Chair of the English Department and Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Art
Dr. Magali Cornier Michael began her tenure as the new Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences on July 1, 2018. As the top administrative officer in the College, Dr. Michael will oversee faculty and work closely with them and the university’s leadership team to support, grow and develop distinct programs and strategies that achieve USF St. Petersburg’s academic goals. Dr. Michael comes to USFSP from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where she was a professor and served as Chair of the English Department and Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. In the latter role for the past three years, she oversaw 12 departments that housed 22 majors and included 1,500 undergraduate students and approximately 500 graduate students. After spending 26 years at Duquesne, she was drawn to USF St. Petersburg for its growth potential, community feel and how faculty and staff are genuinely invested in the academic success of students. We sat down with Dr. Michael to hear more about her academic and professional experience, strengths she brings to the role of Dean and her vision for the College of Arts & Sciences. Tell us a bit about your academic, research and professional background? My PhD is in English, really Literary Studies, which I earned from Emory University. My area of research is contemporary American and British literature. I have always been a big reader and enjoyed literature, especially what is currently being published. Literature tends to be associated with the past, but there are all sorts of interesting things being written right now dealing with contemporary issues. For years I have taught courses in literature and also in creative writing. I started out at Duquesne University as an Assistant Professor and worked up to Professor. I also engaged in administrative work, such as serving at Graduate Director for the English Department’s M.A. and Ph.D. programs and helping to create a Women and Gender Studies program and directing it for a number of years. I also served as Chair of the English Department for six years and for the last three years was the Associate Dean for the College of Liberal Arts.
