January 17, 2023
Margaret Watkins, Ph.D., named new dean of Providence College School of Arts and Sciences
Margaret Watkins, Ph.D. has been named dean of the Providence College School of Arts and Sciences effective July 1, 2023. She currently serves as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Seattle Pacific University, a private liberal arts Christian university in Seattle.
Sean Reid, Ph.D., PC’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, announced the appointment on January 17.
“Throughout the search process, Dr. Watkins stood out in an excellent pool of candidates. In our conversations and in her conversations with members of our community, it’s apparent that she is passionate about the programs offered in the School of Arts and Sciences and excited for this role,” said Reid. “The dean has a crucial role leading and advancing a wide range of programs and advocating for faculty and students. I’m certain Dr. Watkins will do an outstanding job, and I’m excited for her to get started.”
A College of William and Mary graduate, Watkins earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. She is a philosopher specializing in early modern ethics and aesthetics and an expert on the 18th century Scottish philosopher David Hume. She is president of the Hume Society, an international scholarly organization with members from dozens of countries. She has published more than 20 articles and book reviews, and her monograph, The Philosophical Progress of Hume’s Essays, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2019. In 2018, she was the David Hume Fellow at the Institute for the Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh.
Watkins’ work also includes studies of philosophy and literature, race and gender in early modern thought, and efforts to increase inclusivity and diversity in philosophical teaching-learning and scholarship.
“I am inspired by Providence’s vision of a transformative and liberating Dominican education, rooted in the ideal of veritas, as well as the commitment to care for community and diversity that was so evident in all of my interactions during the interview process,” Watkins said. “I am very much looking forward to joining the Friar community.”
Prior to Seattle Pacific, Dr. Watkins served as a professor, Honors Program director, interim dean, and from 2019-2021, dean of the School of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Saint Vincent College, a Benedictine institution in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. She has been at Seattle Pacific since 2021.
PC’s School of Arts and Sciences offers 32 bachelor’s degree programs, four master’s degrees programs, three certificate programs, and 32 minors in a range of disciplines. One of five schools in the college’s administrative structure, it is home to 18 academic departments and nine academic programs. As dean, Watkins will oversee nearly 250 full-time faculty members.
Watkins replaces Sheila Adamus-Liotta, Ph.D., the school’s first dean, who served in that role from 2009 until leaving to become provost of Saint Anselm College last year. Joan Branham, Ph.D., associate dean and a professor of art and art history, has served as interim dean and will continue in that role until July 1.
AGB Search consulted with Providence College on the national search that yielded this appointment. PC faculty members Comfort Ateh, Ph.D., associate provost for diversity, equity, and inclusion and associate professor of secondary education, and Vance Morgan, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, chaired the search committee.
