The UO Graduate School has announced the appointment of new assistant and associate deans to manage daily operations in the school and work on developing new programs.

Sara Hodges, a professor of psychology, will join the Graduate School this summer as associate dean. Laura Jacek, assistant registrar for operations in the registrar’s office, will become assistant dean.

Hodges has served as director of graduate studies in psychology and was a member of the Graduate Council. She will work on new program development in the Graduate School, with an emphasis on the natural sciences, and will help strengthen and expand graduate student support programs.

A social psychologist, Hodges has researched perspective taking, empathy and social comparison.

Jacek holds a doctorate in geography and worked as a researcher for more than a decade before joining the registrar’s office. In the Graduate School, she will manage daily operations, manage projects related to new programs and develop a new data infrastructure.

“The assistant dean will not only manage daily operations but, with Laura in the position, will bring the resources necessary to provide degree programs with the information they need to help ensure student success,” said Graduate School Dean Scott Pratt. “And as associate dean, Sara will bring the experience of a senior faculty leader in the Division of Natural Sciences to the work of new program development and strengthening the infrastructure that supports doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows."