Meet Our Associate Deans

Matt Clay

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Matt Clay has been a member of the Fulbright faculty since 2012, joining as an assistant professor of mathematics. He was promoted to associate professor in 2015 and to professor in 2021, and he has served as chair of the Department of Mathematical Sciences since 2023. In addition to his leadership as chair, he has held several service roles, including undergraduate programs coordinator and member of multiple departmental and college committees. At the college level, he has contributed to the Honors Council, the Fulbright Personnel Committee and the college's strategic planning efforts, where he currently co-chairs the student success subcommittee.

In this role, Clay leads key areas of the college's academic mission, including assessment, accreditation, curricular innovation and international education. He works to ensure academic programs meet and exceed accreditation and reputational benchmarks while supporting a high-quality, inclusive student learning experience. His responsibilities include supporting the development of new academic programs, certificates, minors and majors; overseeing program assessment and viability reviews; and managing areas such as enrollment and Global Campus. He also serves as liaison to the college's Honors Program and represent Fulbright College on the Undergraduate Council and Strategic Enrollment Committee.

 

J. Laurence Hare

Associate Dean

J. Laurence Hare is Associate Professor of History and has been a member of the faculty at the University of Arkansas since 2010. He holds a PhD in Modern European History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with research specialties in modern German history and global history. He has been the recipient of a German Chancellor Fellowship from the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation and a Fulbright Specialist Award from the U.S. Department of State. His teaching and service contributions have been recognized by the Faculty Advisor of the Year Award from the Arkansas Academic Advising Network, the Honors College Distinguished Faculty Award, and the Faculty Gold Medal from the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards.

 

David McNabb

Associate Dean for Research and Infrastructure

David S. McNabb joined the U of A in its Department of Biological Sciences in 2000, where he has served as a faculty member, vice chair, and chair. His research interests center on the development and identification of antifungal compounds or peptides for potential use in the treatment of fungal infections in humans, the role of the CCAAT-binding factor in Candida albicans pathogenesis and the application of solid-state nanopores as single molecule detectors for applications in biological systems.

As Associate Dean for Research and Infrastructure, McNabb promotes best practices in the management and oversight of funded research initiatives, research space, and advance new and continued research activity. He also evaluates preproposals, oversees startup, research, and travel funds for the college, and works to coordinate research, grant-writing workshops, appropriate space usage, and inclusive excellence.

His responsibilities include representing the college on university committees related to research, space, and compliance; monitoring and facilitating faculty entrepreneurship/intellectual property; overseeing research travel, startup, and renovation funds; overseeing research centers and interdisciplinary science programs, engaging in space and infrastructure planning; and representing the college on the Graduate Council.

 

Shauna A. Morimoto

Associate Dean for Sciences

Shauna A. Morimoto joined the U of A in its Department of Sociology and Criminology in 2008 where she served as a faculty member and chair, and previously held the position of Provost Fellow for the Office of the Provost and Faculty Affairs. Her research interests include organizational inequalities, institutional transformation, intersectionality, and democratic participation and social change.

As Associate Dean for the Sciences, Morimoto works closely with natural sciences unit leaders to build and foster excellence in scholarship, teaching, service, and engagement. She partners with their units to address unit needs, brainstorm solutions, promote effective shared governance, and align unit efforts with the mission of the College and the University. Morimoto also works closely with the dean’s leadership team and campus partners to develop and support unit leadership, inclusive excellence, and advise the Dean on unit challenges and successes.

The primary areas she provides service and support to include Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Geosciences, Journalism, Mathematical Sciences, and Physics.

 

Yajaira Padilla

Associate Dean for Art and Humanities

Yajaira M. Padilla is Professor of English and Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. She received her Ph.D. in Literature from the University of California in San Diego in 2005. Her research centers on Central American cultural and literary studies and Central Americans in a US Latinx/a/o context. She is the author of From Threatening Guerrillas to Forever Illegals: US Central Americans and the Cultural Politics of Non-Belonging (UT Press, 2022) and Changing Women, Changing Nation: Female Agency, Nationhood, and Identity in Trans-Salvadoran Narratives (SUNY 2012). She has published several articles in peer reviewed journals, including Latin American Perspectives, Latino Studies, the Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies, the Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies, as well as book chapters in edited volumes. Her current book project is on the figure of the migrant child in Latinx/Central American speculative fiction and media.

As Associate Dean for the Arts & Humanities, Padilla works closely with art and humanities unit leaders to build and foster excellence in scholarship and creative activity, teaching, service, and engagement. She partners with their units to address unit needs, brainstorm solutions, promote effective shared governance, and align unit efforts with the mission of the College and the University. Padilla also works closely with the dean’s leadership team and campus partners to develop and support unit leadership, inclusive excellence, and advise the Dean on unit challenges and successes.

The primary areas she provides service and support to include Art, Music, Theatre, English, History, Philosophy, and World Languages.

 

Stephanie Ricker Schulte

Associate Dean for Social Sciences

Stephanie Ricker Schulte joined the U of A in its Department of Communication in 2008 where she served as a faculty member, vice chair, and chair. Her research explores communication technologies, popular culture, and transnational media policy and examines the multidirectional relationships between technological design, American culture, and policymaking.

As Associate Dean for Social Sciences, Schulte works closely with social sciences unit leaders to build and foster excellence in scholarship and creative activity, teaching, service, and engagement. She partners with their units to address unit needs, brainstorm solutions, promote effective shared governance, and align unit efforts with the mission of the College and the University. Schulte also works closely with the dean’s leadership team and campus partners to develop and support unit leadership, inclusive excellence, and advise the Dean on unit challenges and successes.

The primary areas she provides service and support to include Anthropology, Communication, Political Science, Psychological Science, Social Work, and Sociology and Criminology.