Bethel Names New Vice President and Dean

Deborah (Deb) Sullivan-Trainor has been named Bethel’s vice president and dean of the College of Arts & Sciences by Executive Vice President and Provost Deb Harless, following recommendations from the Vice President and Dean Search Advisory Committee. Sullivan-Trainor has served as associate dean of general education and faculty development for the College of Arts & Sciences since 2005 and has also held the position of acting co-dean since January 2013.

“This is a particularly critical leadership position in the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) and Bethel University at this time in our history,” says Harless. “Deb brings the demonstrated skills, personal capacities, and commitment to the liberal arts and Christian higher education that are necessary in order to serve with excellence and to move CAS forward in positive and innovative ways. She has highly effective communication skills, is a very skilled listener, and consistently seeks out faculty voices and perspectives. She is also skilled at moving projects and tasks forward.”

Sullivan-Trainor joined the Bethel University faculty in the modern world languages department in 1999 and also served as department chair. Before coming to Bethel, Sullivan-Trainor was on the faculty at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, for seven years and taught at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, for two years. She holds a Ph.D. in French from the University of California, Irvine; and an M.A. and B.A. from Texas Tech University.