Saint Mary’s College launches new School of Arts & Sciences and names inaugural dean

Saint Mary’s College of California has launched a new School of Arts & Sciences for the start of the academic year and appointed Gesine Gerhard, PhD, as its first dean. The unified school brings together the college’s liberal arts and science programs to support interdisciplinary learning, student success, and career preparation.

Why it matters: - Saint Mary’s is consolidating its arts, sciences, humanities, and social sciences into one school to make interdisciplinary study easier for students. - The move is intended to strengthen academic innovation, ethical inquiry, and student preparation for work and life in a fast-changing world. - The new structure also reinforces Saint Mary’s broader push into high-demand fields such as nursing, health sciences, education, business, communication, and the social sciences.

What happened: - Saint Mary’s College of California launched its new School of Arts & Sciences at the start of the academic year. - The college named Gesine Gerhard, PhD, as inaugural dean. - Gerhard joined Saint Mary’s from Drake University earlier this summer. - The new school combines the former School of Liberal Arts and School of Science into a single academic home.

The details: - The School of Arts & Sciences covers the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. - Carol Ann Gittens, PhD, MBA, the college’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, said the new structure creates a more integrated academic environment while preserving disciplinary strengths. - Gittens said the reorganization is designed to expand collaboration, innovation, ethical inquiry, and human-centered learning. - Gerhard spent eight years at Drake University as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. - At Drake, Gerhard oversaw more than 40 academic programs and about 140 faculty members. - Her portfolio at Drake included the humanities, fine arts, social sciences, and natural sciences. - Gerhard led work on interdisciplinary programming, student success, faculty development, experiential learning, enrollment growth, and fundraising. - Before Drake, Gerhard held leadership roles at the University of the Pacific, including associate dean of the College of the Pacific and director of general education. - At the University of the Pacific, she helped lead curricular reform, first-year experience initiatives, and student success and belonging programs. - Gerhard is a scholar of modern European and German history. - Her published work focuses on World War II, the Holocaust, food politics, and social history. - Gerhard has continued teaching while serving in administrative roles. - The new school serves students across dozens of majors and programs. - Saint Mary’s said the school builds on the college’s existing strengths in close faculty mentorship, interdisciplinary learning, and whole-person development. - The college cited its inclusion in Colleges That Change Lives, where it was the first Catholic college and the only California institution among the featured schools. - The school’s core competencies include ethical reasoning, clear communication, quantitative and data literacy, data analytics, and emerging fluency in artificial intelligence. - The Collegiate Seminar program remains central to the Saint Mary’s experience. - The college said Collegiate Seminar supports dialogue, reflection, and interdisciplinary learning across cultures, traditions, and fields of study.

Between the lines: - The reorganization signals a bet that students will be better served by a single school structure than by separate arts and science divisions. - Saint Mary’s is positioning liberal arts learning as a practical advantage, not just a traditional one, by linking it to professional preparation and emerging technologies. - Gerhard’s background suggests the college wants a dean with experience in both curriculum change and enrollment strategy.

What's next: - Gerhard will lead the new school as it enters its first year. - Saint Mary’s will likely use the new structure to deepen interdisciplinary offerings and reinforce student outcomes across majors. - The college is expected to continue emphasizing competencies that bridge disciplines, especially AI literacy and data skills.

The bottom line: - Saint Mary’s is reshaping its academic structure around one idea: the arts and sciences work best together when preparing students for modern careers and complex public challenges.