OFFICE OF THE DEAN: BIOS 

John W. Jeffries
Dean
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Professor, History

Dean John Jeffries joined the UMBC Department of History in 1973, and served several terms as Chair of the Department of History and as Faculty Senate President before becoming Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. His books and articles, which include Testing the Roosevelt Coalition and Wartime America, have focused on the politics and policy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt era and on the U.S. home front during World War II. He has been named a Distinguished Lecturer by the Organization of American Historians and has won teaching awards from UMBC and from the Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland. Dean Jeffries earned his B.A. from Harvard University and his M. Phil. and Ph.D. from Yale University.

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Jonathan C. Finkelstein
Associate Dean
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Associate Professor, Psychology
Director, Judaic Studies Program

Dr. Jonathan C. Finkelstein, a social psychologist with research interests in attitude change and persuasion, joined the UMBC Department of Psychology in 1971 and served as Associate Chair from 1978 to 1994. He has twice received departmental teaching awards and a Certificate of Merit from the ACT/National Academic Advising Association, in 1989. He joined the Dean’s Office as an Associate Dean in 1994. Dr. Finkelstein also directs the UMBC Judaic Studies Program. He earned a B.A. in Psychology from Temple University and the Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

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Cheryl Miller
Associate Dean
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Associate Professor, Departments of Political Science and Public Policy

Dr. Cheryl Miller joined the Departments of Political Science and Public Policy in 1988 and the Dean’s Office in 2008. Her research interests include welfare policy devolution, bureaucratic accountability, state policymaking, and the impact of race on policy outcomes. She has served as Faculty Senate President and Chairperson of the Department of Political Science. Dr. Miller also has had a variety of policy practitioner experiences since joining UMBC. She was a Senior Research Associate with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow, and an intermittent instructor at the U. S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) Training Institute, where she received a Special Commendation award in 1993. Dr. Miller earned a B.A degree from Lincoln University (PA), a Master’s degree in City Planning (M.C.P) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Kathy O’Dell
Associate Dean
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Associate Professor, Visual Arts

Dr. Kathy O’Dell joined the Department of Visual Arts in 1992 and the Dean’s Office in 2001. An art historian and critic of modern and contemporary art, she is the author of Contract with the Skin: Masochism, Performance Art, and the 1970s (University of Minnesota Press, 1998) and the co-author with Kristine Stiles of the forthcoming World Art Since 1945 (Laurence King Publishers, 2011). Dr. O’Dell co-chaired UMBC’s Middle States Periodic Review Committee (1999-2001) and the Task Force on the Arts (2001-2003) and currently serves on numerous statewide K-16 committees. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Baltimore’s Contemporary Museum and a vice president of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance. Dr. O’Dell earned her B.A. from Colby College, M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and Ph.D. from the City University of New York Graduate Center.

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Eva Dominguez
Assistant Dean
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Eva Dominguez, the Assistant Dean of Finance, joined the Dean’s Office in 1999. She brings extensive administrative experience in college administration, as well as a diverse background in both private and public sectors. She received her first degree in archeology and classics, but now spends her time as a CPA.

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Terry Aylsworth
Executive Administrative Assistant
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Terry Aylsworth joined UMBC in 1996 as the Program Assistant for the Shakespeare Association of America (SAA) and the Administrative Assistant for the Center for the Humanities. She helped Dr. Lena Orlin get the SAA established on campus and also ran its yearly national conference for its 800-plus members. Aylsworth assisted Dr. Daphne Harrison, the Director of the Center for the Humanities, in the formation of the Humanities Scholars and the Humanities Forum Programs. In 2000, she joined the then-College of Arts and Sciences as former Dean Rick Welch’s assistant. In 2005, under the reorganization, the College of Arts and Sciences became the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences under Dean John Jeffries. Aylsworth currently assists Dean Jeffries as the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences develops in new ways. Additionally, she was awarded the Presidential Distinguished Staff Award in 2005 and has been the President of her Senate, NEESS, for the past three years.

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Tamara Brown
Executive Administrative Assistant
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Tamara Brown has been in the University of Maryland System since 1984. She joined UMBC in 1999 as the Administrative Assistant for the Department of Public Policy. In 2007, she joined the College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences. She currently assists Dr. Finkelstein with recruitment and promotion and tenure.

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Janice O’Neill
Business Services Manager
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Janice O’Neill has been in the Dean’s Office since 1983. She has worked with six wonderful Deans in her 24 years at UMBC. She was originally hired as an account clerk to process travel requests for the College, and as the Dean’s Office assumed more responsibilities, she took on additional financial matters, including work with the Assistant Dean.

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