Rosario Ceballo, professor and past chair of women’s studies and professor of psychology, has been named associate dean for the social sciences at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan. She has served as interim associate dean for social sciences since September 2018.

As chair of women’s studies from 2015 to 2018, Ceballo led one of the most diverse departments on campus as well as one of the oldest women’s studies programs in the country. It’s also the first program of its kind to offer interdisciplinary doctoral degrees, one of which earned a top-ten ranking by U.S. News & World Report in 2017. As chair, Ceballo both launched and expanded the department’s new gender and health major.

“I am honored and excited by the opportunity to continue working with our extraordinary social science departments,” Ceballo says. “I look forward to supporting LSA’s innovative social science research, high-quality training of graduate and undergraduate students, creative teaching approaches, and the integration of diversity and inclusivity throughout everything that we do.”

In her role as associate dean, Ceballo will oversee more than a dozen units in the social sciences, ranging from cognitive science to anthropology, communication and media, economics, sociology, and more. LSA social scientists have explored the world beyond our immediate experience, generating scholarship about digital technology, organizations, aging, politics, the origin and evolution of culture, and healthcare, all to better understand people and the ways in which we influence the world.

Ceballo’s own research focuses on children and adolescents living in poverty and ways to protect them from its associated risks, such as exposure to community violence. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes for Health, and she has published extensively in clinical, cultural, developmental, and feminist psychology journals. Ceballo’s teaching has been recognized with the John Dewey Award for commitment to the education of undergraduate students. She currently serves on the editorial board for American Psychologist and has chaired the American Psychological Association’s Committee on Socioeconomic Status.