From Dean Chris Makaroff
Dear Alumni and Friends:
Needless to say, serving as dean of CAS for the past nine and a half years has been a great honor. It has been a sincere pleasure to meet and engage with so many of you both on campus and on the road. Your endless enthusiasm, passion, and support for CAS has helped invigorate and guide me during my time in this position.
I am very optimistic for the future of the CAS, and I know that Renée, who has been a fantastic partner here in the Dean's Office, will do a fantastic job. She says she will be "doing a lot of listening and visiting the departments, different student organizations, and our alumni groups to see how we can work together," so stay tuned to hear from her in the coming months.
In other news, we are excited to announce that Kris Bahner '92, a longtime friend of CAS, will be our alumni guest speaker at the CAS Recognition Ceremony on May 18. Kris majored in Speech Communications and Public Relations and is currently senior vice president of global corporate affairs for Kellanova (formerly Kellogg Company).
In her new interview article with one of our students, Kris emphasized that her knowledge and experience with philanthropy and sustainability have benefitted from her time at Miami. “The mutual audition process that Miami prepares you for is incredibly helpful, as your employers and colleagues get to know students and their work ethic,” she says.
Finally, it behooves me to mention that I am humbled and honored to be one of two co-recipients of
the 2024 Benjamin Harrison Medallion award. I would also like to recognize my CAS faculty colleagues who received prestigious awards of their own, including
Katie Johnson and
Michele Navakas, both professors of English who are the well-deserving recipients of the 2024 University Faculty Scholar Award. Other CAS winners were
Katy Abbott, Cricket Meehan, Andrea Kravats, and
Scott Kenworthy, all for the inaugural Excellence in Research and Innovation award.
I look forward to maintaining contact with many of you in the coming year as I continue to serve the university in a number of ways.
