Staff & Administration

Mary K. Boyd, Ph.D., was appointed dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 2008. Prior to her appointmant she was professor and chair of Chemistry at Georgia Southern University from 2005-2008 and a faculty member in the department of Chemistry at Loyola University Chicago from 1990-2005.  Boyd was a Faculty Fellow in the Center for Ethics and Social Justice at Loyola in 2004. She received the Sujack Award for Teaching Excellence in the College of Arts and Sciences at Loyola.

Boyd is a chemistry councilor for the Council of Undergraduate Research, and serves on the American Chemical Society Committee on Minority Affairs and the Executive Committee of the Division of Organic Chemistry. She has served as secretary and advisory board member of the Inter-American Photochemical Society.

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Valerie Attisha is the director of Development for the College of Arts and Sciences.  In this role, she works with faculty and the dean to secure funding from alumni, parents, and friends for the more than thirty diverse departments, programs, institutes, and centers that comprise the college.  In addition, she oversees the college’s marketing, communications, publications, and web design efforts.  An experienced and dedicated fundraising professional, Valerie joined USD, her alma mater, in spring 2007. 

Prior, she spent almost ten years at The San Diego Foundation where she served as the Director of Scholarships and San Diego Teachers’ Fund.  While attending graduate school in Sacramento, Valerie worked as a graduate assistant and upon graduating, she secured a position as a legislative analyst and lobbyist.  Valerie has been active with the Rotary Club and is a 2005 graduate of LEAD San Diego.  In 2006, she was awarded San Diego Metropolitan Magazine’s prestigious 40 Under 40 Award.

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Pauline Berryman Powell was appointed as assistant dean in the College of Arts and Sciences in 2001. She is primarily responsible for working with students, and works directly with the dean and the associate deans to interpret, revise, and enforce the college policies and procedures. Her responsibilities also include assisting with activities that support faculty, fiscal management, student academic advising and foreign transcript evaluations. Previously, Powell served as admissions recruiter at Azusa Pacific University’s highly selective internship program and as director of Student Recruitment within Student Affairs at the Southern California College of Optometry (SCCO). Powell’s interests include working with diverse student populations.

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The Budget and Special Projects Manager is responsible to the dean for managing, coordinating, monitoring and implementing the fiscal and operational resources of the college. She provides direct assistance to the dean on a wide range of assignments involving the highest level of administrative work associated with complex problems of a confidential and sensitive nature. With considerable autonomy, Cornell is fully responsible for managing approximately 500 full and part-time faculty contracts, stipends and awards, exercising discretion and diplomacy. She prioritizes budget and special projects for the dean, and trains and supports department chairs and program directors on budget processes. Cornell serves as dean’s liaison to the associate and assistant deans, coordinating decanal financial goals, priorities and projects. She also serves as the dean’s liaison to the provost’s office, purchasing, and financial services. Cornell plays a key role in college-wide planning and policy-making. She is responsible for endowment management and liaison to University Relations regarding gifts and donations. She ensures the efficient and effective functioning of the college. 

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He has been the pre-law advisor at USD since 1987.

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Neena Din, Ph.D., was appointed assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in August 2007. She came to USD from Loyola College in Maryland, where she earned tenure as an associate Professor of Biology in 2005. At Loyola, Din taught courses in the areas of cell and molecular biology and microbiology, as well as carrying out research on the processes of cell cycle events in bacteria. She also served as Loyola’s Pre-Health advisor for three years.

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Daisy Gudino serves as the initial resource person for the Dean’s Office, College of Arts and Sciences, other College departments, faculty, administrators, staff, students and the general public. She also serves as a liaison to the office manager in maintaining the overall flow of business in the Dean’s office, answers multi-phones, organizes front desk filing system and distributes office mail and Dean’s Office forms. She works closely with the Assistant Deans to assist during transfer student registration. She received her B.A. in Social Work in 2008 from San Diego State University. She joined the Dean’s Office in the spring of 2007.

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James O. Gump, Ph.D., was appointed associate dean for advising and curriculum  in January 2009.  He previously served as associate dean of the college, chair of the history department , and director of the Honors Program.  He has been a member of the faculty since 1981 and is a professor of History. Gump has been the recipient of fellowships from Fulbright, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Newberry Library in Chicago, and the Beinecke Library at Yale University. He is also the former recipient of a Davies Chair at USD.

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Carole Huston, Ph.D., is the Director of Assessment for the College of Arts and Sciences. Along with the College A-Team, she provides direct assistance to the college’s departments and programs in developing their assessment plans, annual reports, and program review self studies. She is a member of the WASC reaccreditation Steering Committee and co-chairs assessment efforts related to the first theme of USD’s institutional proposal. Professor Huston has partnered with others in presenting workshops, panel discussions, and forums deal with various aspects of student learning and teaching, such as course construction, student learning outcome assessment, the value of a liberal arts education, classroom management, multi-tasking and networking, and creating innovative learning environments. She co-chairs the core curriculum committee working on issues of structuring curricular outcomes based on shared competencies, assessment, and alignment. Additionally, Professor Huston brings more than 25 years of college teaching experience in the fields of communication studies, gender studies, and psychology.  She has administrative experience as department chair and program director.  She has authored several papers and publications in interpersonal communication, communication theory, and rhetorical criticism, and co-authored two textbooks: one on research methods and one on interpersonal communication.

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Nancy Kuelbs is the lead academic scheduler for the College of Arts and Sciences, preparing and implementing the classroom schedules through interaction with faculty and staff. In addition, she serves as the primary academic scheduler for the entire university and is responsible for orchestrating the overall academic scheduling process. She is accountable for the preparation and electronic submission of the university’s schedule of classes, and for the bi-annual physical inspection of Arts and Sciences classrooms.  

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Janey Middelton manages the daily operations of the dean's office. She provides direct administrative assistance to the associate dean and the assistant dean and oversees departmental staff. Middleton trains and supervises student workers and administrative staff. She acts as facilitator and resource person for the transfer analyst, other departments, faculty, administrators, staff, students and the general public. She provides secondary support for three executive assistants, the dean, the scheduler and the Honors Program.

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Carol Moffett, director of Pre-Health and National Awards Advising, assists pre-health students with identifying specific professional school academic prerequisites, locating volunteer and community service opportunities, and understanding the professional school application process. Moffett acts as the liaison to various professional schools, hospitals, serves as club advisor to eight USD pre-health clubs, and supervises the Pre-Health Peer Advisor and Pre-Health Peer Ambassador programs. Additionally, she assists with identifying and assisting students apply for nationally competitive fellowships.

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Lyndsey Scully is responsible for marketing the events and accomplishments of the college and its faculty and students.  This includes working on the college’s website, the calendar of the arts, a forthcoming newsletter and other college publications.  Additionally, she works with the Public Affairs department to create greater visibility for the college both on and off campus.  Other responsibilities include assisting the director of Development and working with University Relations. Scully is a graduate student at USD, pursuing her M.A. in History.

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Laura Stetler performs detailed administrative work for the Honors program and the dean's office. She assists the Honors Program director in all aspects of the Honors program and is responsible for coordinating the university's annual Honors Convocation, as well as assisting the associate dean in the preceptorial and summer advising program. Stetler joined the dean’s office in 2009.

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The Assistant to the Dean supports the dean in all areas including relations with faculty, donors, parents, alumni, the community, university, and governmental organizations. Provides direct assistance to the dean on a wide range of assignments involving the highest level of administrative work associated with complex problems of a confidential and sensitive nature. Manages work flow and priorities of the dean. Liaison to department chairs and program directors and coordinates orientation of faculty with them. Serves as Dean’s liaison to the Associate and Assistant deans in coordination of decanal goals and priorities. Manages special projects. This position ensures the efficient and effective functioning of the day-to-day activities of the Dean. Assist prospective and current faculty in matters of University policies and procedures. Lori Stevenson has been w/the University of San Diego for 15 years.

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Anne A. Sturz, Ph.D., was appointed associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 2007. She has been member of the faculty since 1991. She is a professor of Marine Science and Environmental Studies and served as the chair of that department from 2003 to 2006.

Sturz is a member of the Executive Committee of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Pacific Division (AAAS PD). She served as president elect of AAAS PD June 2007 to June 2008 and president of AAAS PD from June 2008 to June 2009.

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Starla Tudor is the building manager for the Shiley Center for Science and Technology. Originally from Colorado, she worked in the San Diego biotech industry for more than 12 years with jobs ranging from molecular biologist to facility coordinator. As the building manager of the Science Center her responsibilities include chemical hygiene, waste management, radiation safety , equipment installation, and facility management. Tudor works closely with the department chairs for Chemistry, Biology, Marine and Environmental Science, and Physics to ensure that the facility meets their needs and provides a safe environment for its occupants. 

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