Cherisse Jones-Branch will become the next dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Communication at Arkansas State University, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Calvin White Jr. announced Thursday.
Jones-Branch, 43, dean of the Graduate School since 2020, has spent the last four years working to re-establish a centralized school for students who want to pursue advanced degrees as the university deepens its Research II Carnegie classification, officials said.
"She is a capable leader and an award-winning educator with an established reputation throughout our state and nation as a thought leader and a champion for the humanities," White said in a statement.
"During the search, she shared a strong vision for the future of the college, and a demonstrated understanding of the unique challenges facing colleges of liberal arts and communications. I look forward to supporting her efforts to elevate the college and its diverse academic departments and programs," White added.
The College of Liberal Arts and Communication includes areas of study such as history, political science and English -- essentially, the fine arts, humanities and social sciences.
Jones-Branch said she plans to continue the mission of the College of Liberal Arts and Communication to help students develop the skills they need to be competitive by focusing on support and advocacy for faculty as the university continues to invest in teaching and research.
She began her Arkansas State University career in 2003 in the Department of History. Promoted to professor in 2016, she became the inaugural James E. and Wanda Lee Vaughn Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences in 2017.
Jones-Branch was a 2021-2022 American Council of Education Fellow, an American Council of Education Women's Leadership Program mentor and an American Council of Education Council of Fellows board member. She was part of the inaugural group of the American Council of Learned Societies, Leadership Institute for a New Academy.
Additionally, she is co-founder of the Arkansas Delta Women's Leadership Academy and she participated in the American Association of State Colleges and Universities 2023 Millennium Leadership initiative.
Jones-Branch is a prolific writer of books and articles. Her latest book, "Better Living by Their Own Bootstraps: Black Women's Activism in Rural Arkansas, 1914-1965," was published in 2021. She is working on a third book, "To Make the Farm Bureau Stronger and Better for All the People: African Americans and the American Farm Bureau Federation: 1920-1966." Jones-Branch is co-editor of "Rural Black Studies" for the University of Arkansas Press.
"I have long been aware of Dr. Jones-Branch's profile as a leading historian in the state," Arkansas State University Chancellor Todd Shields -- who used to work at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville -- said in a statement. "More recently, in 2022, I had the privilege to work with her directly and see her effective leadership and expertise in action while serving with her on the Governor's Commission on Women. We are lucky to have her in this crucial campus role."
Jones-Branch said the university will continue to emphasize liberal arts and communication as core and essential components of what constitutes a university education.
"No matter what one's major is, every student who comes through [the College of Liberal Arts and Communication] has been impacted by the stellar disciplinary offerings within each department," Jones-Branch said in a statement.
Jones-Branch received her bachelor's degree from the College of Charleston in 1994, her master's at the College of Charleston in 1997 and a Ph.D. in history from The Ohio State University in 2003.
She is a Persian Gulf War veteran, serving in the U.S. Army in Saudi Arabia and Iraq as a member of the North Charleston, South Carolina-based 941st Transportation Company.
Brad Rawlins, the outgoing College of Liberal Arts and Communication interim dean, will work with Jones-Branch during the transition.
She will begin her appointment July 1, 2024, and will make $220,000 annually, a spokesman said.