Our Deans
Jennifer Malat, Ph.D.
Dean
Dean Jennifer Malat came to the College of Arts & Sciences in August of 2023. Prior to this, she was associate vice president of development at Virginia Commonwealth University, dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences at VCU, and the inaugural associate dean and divisional dean for the social sciences in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Cincinnati.
Malat received her undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. From there, she received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Michigan and spent the first 20 years of her career at the University of Cincinnati. .
Malat’s academic research on racial inequity in health has received federal funding and has appeared in top journals. She has dedicated her leadership career to equity issues as well, including by increasing the diversity of faculty and college leadership, ensuring fostering interdisciplinary approaches to inclusive education, and promoting community engagement. This work is integral to her leadership of the largest academic unit at UNM, where she leads 24 departments and schools, 26 research and academic programs, and nearly 1,000 faculty and staff at the College.
Our Associate Deans
Stephen Bishop
Associate Dean for Humanities & Interdisciplinary Units
Dr. Stephen Bishop joined UNM as a faculty member in 2000 after completing his Ph.D. in French and Francophone Studies and his J.D. at the University of Michigan. He is currently a Professor in Africana Studies and Languages, Cultures & Literatures and is member of the Arizona Bar, where he previously worked as a lawyer on the Navajo Nation. Dr. Bishop has served on a wide array of university and College committees, including AF&T, Faculty Ethics, A&S Tenure & Promotion (twice), APR work, and numerous hiring committees in multiple departments among others. Before joining the Dean’s Office, he was the Director or Associate Director of the International Studies Institute for nine years. His areas of research and teaching expertise include Law & Literature, African literature and culture, shame, child soldier narratives, and comparative feminisms. Dr. Bishop’s recent book is Scripting Shame in African Literature (Liverpool UP). As a grateful Fulbright recipient, he is involved in programs such as Fulbright, Mellon-Mays, UROC, and other student award opportunities. He also strives to advocate for community connections to UNM through volunteering as a speaker, judge, and recruiter at high school events in Bernalillo County.
Peter Fawcett
Associate Dean for Research and Interim Associate Dean for Natural Sciences & Mathematics
Originally from Hamilton, Ontario, Professor Peter Fawcett earned an undergraduate degree in geology at McMaster University before attending graduate school at Penn State University. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto, he joined the UNM faculty in 1997. He has served as chair of the department of Earth & Planetary Sciences for the last eight years. Classically trained as a geologist, but with a strong emphasis on an interdisciplinary approach in teaching and research, Dr. Fawcett has worked with a diverse group of earth scientists, biologists, chemists, physicists to study past climate change and its impact on the environment. He has served as principal investigator on three large, continental scientific drilling projects recovering climatic and environmental records from lake sediments from the Valles Caldera in New Mexico, Stoneman Lake, in Arizona, and a large international research group drilling the ancient lake sediments than now underlie Mexico City (Lake Chalco).
Keith Hunley
Associate Dean for Social Sciences & Interdisciplinary Units
Professor Keith Hunley joined the UNM Anthropology Department in 2004. Prior to joining UNM, he earned a Ph.D. in anthropology and held a postdoctoral fellowship in human genetics at the University of Michigan. His research in evolutionary anthropology examines the persistence of genetic and linguistic structure within our species, despite the fluid nature of population boundaries and the ephemeral nature of individual groups. Dr. Hunley's publications have provided insights into the initial dispersal of humans from Africa, the non-existence of biological races, the co-evolution of genes and languages, and the psychosocial and cultural determinants of interest in and uptake of genetic testing for skin cancer. He has served as chair of the Anthropology Department for the last five years.
Sushilla Knottenbelt
Associate Dean for Student Success
Dr. Sushilla Knottenbelt, Principal Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, joined the University of New Mexico in 2004 as a postdoctoral fellow in Bioinorganic Chemistry after earning her Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry from the University of York in the United Kingdom. Driven by a passion for teaching, she transitioned to a lecturer role and contributed to a STEM course redesign initiative focused on using evidence-based teaching methods to improve student outcomes in large General Chemistry courses. Dr. Knottenbelt has supported faculty across UNM in utilizing learning studio classrooms, peer-learning facilitators, and most recently, as Faculty lead for the UNM Student Experience Project, in implementing strategies validated by social psychology to support student belonging. She co-leads a multi-institution community of practice focused on these social psychological interventions within an HHMI Inclusive Excellence 3 learning community. Before joining the Dean’s Office, she served as the A&S Director of UNM’s Combined BA/MD Degree Program for six years.
Phyllis Palmer
Associate Dean for Natural Sciences
Dr. Phyllis Palmer's relationship with the University of New Mexico spans almost four decades, beginning in the late 1980s when she founded and directed the Speech-Language Pathology service at University Hospital. After 10 years of clinical service, she pursued her Ph.D. at the University of Iowa and then returned to UNM with the conviction that clinical care, education, and research go hand in hand. For the eight years prior to joining the college office, Dr. Palmer served as Chair of the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, which is committed to improving healthcare across New Mexico through their educational and scholarship missions. Her own research explores: (1) innovative methodologies in clinician education, including an interactive textbook, Swallowing Across the Lifespan, and a swallow disorders data repository; (2) the BOLUS framework for assessing aspiration risk; and (3) translational research on oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD), a genetic disorder with significant prevalence in New Mexico. As Associate Dean, Dr. Palmer brings decades of UNM experience and a passion for interdisciplinary collaboration.
