, Dean of Students
Victor J. Arcelus

Dean of Students

Victor J. Arcelus joined Connecticut College in July 2013. He is charged with enhancing and extending the personal and intellectual development of the College's diverse student body. A specialist in holistic learning, Arcelus oversees residential life, student engagement, athletics, campus safety, student counseling services, student health services, student wellness and health promotion, and the College’s student conduct process.

Dean of Students
 , Vice President for Marketing and Communications
John Cramer

Vice President for Marketing and Communications

As vice president for marketing and communications, John Cramer provides strategic leadership and counsel in the areas of communications, marketing, branding, crisis management and outreach. His team is responsible for admission, advancement and athletics communications, digital marketing, news and editorial, creative services, media relations, social media, video, photography, web services and public affairs. He previously held senior communications roles at Rutgers University, Princeton University, Dartmouth College and Johns Hopkins Medicine. Before that, he was a journalist who covered military conflicts, the environment and other issues around the world.

Vice President for Marketing and Communications
 , Interim Vice President for College Advancement
Susan Daniells '01

Interim Vice President for College Advancement

Susan leads all strategic and creative aspects of the College’s multi-faceted fundraising and alumni and parent engagement efforts. Under Susan’s direction, the 35-person advancement team drives leadership gifts; gift planning; corporate, foundation, and government relations; alumni and parent engagement; the Camel Athletics Network; annual giving; donor relations; and advancement services.

Vice President for College Advancement
Amy Dooling, VP for Strategic Initiatives and Special Advisor to the President, Professor of Chinese
Amy Dooling

VP for Strategic Initiatives and Special Advisor to the President, Professor of Chinese

A scholar of modern Chinese literature, Amy Dooling has published books on 20th century women’s writing and feminist literary culture. As Associate Dean of Global Initiatives, Dooling works with offices and individuals across campus to coordinate the College’s global education efforts.

Faculty Profile
Danielle Egan, Dean of the Faculty
, Fuller-Maathai Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Intersectionality Studies
Danielle Egan

Dean of the Faculty , Fuller-Maathai Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Intersectionality Studies

R. Danielle Egan, the Fuller-Maathai Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Intersectionality Studies at Connecticut College, is Dean of the Faculty and Chief Academic Officer. The highest-ranking officer after the president, the Dean of the Faculty is responsible for providing academic leadership for the College and its faculty.

Faculty Profile Dean of the Faculty
 , Vice President for Information Services and Librarian of the College
Matthew Gardzina

Vice President for Information Services and Librarian of the College

Matt Gardzina joined Connecticut College as vice president for Information Services and librarian of the College in August 2023. He is the chief information officer and leads both the libraries and Information Technology of the College, including traditional library services, administrative computing, telecommunications, networks, desktop computer support, digital scholarship, special collections and archives, instructional technology and data security.

Gardzina most recently served as chief information officer at Columbus College of Art & Design, where he oversaw the library and information technology division. He previously held leadership positions at Bucknell University and The College of Wooster, and served in IT roles at Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania and Duke University in North Carolina.

 , Interim Dean of Equity and Inclusion, Director of Faculty Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, William Meredith Assistant Professor of Psychology
Nakia Hamlett

Interim Dean of Equity and Inclusion, Director of Faculty Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, William Meredith Assistant Professor of Psychology

Dr. Hamlett is the current Dean of Equity and Inclusion and also the William Meredith Assistant Professor of Psychology at Connecticut College. Dr. Hamlett is also the co-investigator on a grant examining reparative solutions for historic racism which is funded by the Mellon Foundation in partnership with the Center for Social Solutions at the University of Michigan. By training, Dr. Hamlett is a former special education teacher and clinical psychologist with over two decades of experience in education, mental health treatment, and assessment. Dr. Hamlett graduated with a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the State University of New York at Albany in 2010 and completed her pre- and post-doctoral fellowships in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. Upon graduation, Dr. Hamlett worked as an Instructor and Assistant Professor in the same department. Her current clinical and research interests include mental health and wellness, complex trauma, race-based and work-related traumatic stress, personality assessment, and organizational consulting in the areas of climate, culture, and equity-related organizational transformation. In addition to her administrative work and research, Dr. Hamlett works as an independent psychological evaluator and consultant locally and nationally.

Dr. Hamlett’s pronouns: She, Her, Hers

Faculty Profile
 , Interim Vice President for Finance
Robert Knight

Interim Vice President for Finance

Robert Knight joined Connecticut College as the interim vice president for Finance in July 2023. He provides leadership for the College in the areas of business and finance, including financial planning, accounting and financial reporting, and legal and risk management. He oversees the College’s financial assets and is a key member of several of the College’s shared governance committees.

Most recently, from 2016-19, he served as the vice president for Finance and Operations at the University of Northern British Columbia. He was responsible for a range of the university’s operations, including human resources, budget and finance, information technology, facilities planning and construction, and administrative services.

Previously, he held a number of senior leadership roles at several U.S. universities, including New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development; Case Western Reserve University’s School of Engineering and Case Western’s School of Management; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Oberlin College.

Office of Finance and Administration
 , Dean of the College
Erika J. Smith

Dean of the College

Dr. Erika J. Smith joined Connecticut College as Dean of the College in August 2021. She was immediately drawn by Connections, which she sees as the perfect way for all students to have their own expression of success, driving their lives, aspirations and goals further than they knew to aspire. With oversight of the Class Deans, the Academic Resource Center, the Hale Center for Career Development, Study Away, and jointly supporting Fellowships and Scholarships in partnership with the Walter Commons, Dean Smith supports the realization of an integrated and engaged student experience. 

Prior to joining Connecticut College, Dean Smith completed nearly 21 years of service at Brandeis University, most recently having served as Dean of Academic Services from 2016 to 2021. Dr. Smith earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University, where she matriculated as a Posse Scholar, a master of education in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a master’s and Ph.D. in Social Policy from Brandeis’ Heller School for Social Policy and Management.

Dean of the College
 , Dean of Admission and Financial Aid
Andrew Strickler

Dean of Admission and Financial Aid

Andrew Strickler, dean of admission and financial aid, joined Connecticut College in June 2015. He is responsible for determining the overall strategy for recruiting, admitting, matriculating and supporting a diverse and highly selective student body. He manages a staff dedicated not only to attracting the best students, but also to supporting their full demonstrated financial need. He works collaboratively with colleagues across campus — in the offices of the dean of the college, the dean of the faculty, the dean of student life, the vice president for communications and the vice president for finance — to realize these goals, and to ensure that students at Connecticut College have the best possible experience from inquiry to acceptance to matriculation and beyond.

Dean of Admission & Financial Aid
 , Vice president for human resources
Reginald White

Vice president for human resources

Reginald White joined Connecticut College in 2022. As the vice president for human resources, White is responsible for the care and development of a talented workforce with more than 700 employees in a range of professional roles. He oversees organizational design, recruitment and hiring, employee relations, job assessment and satisfaction, health and benefits administration, document management, personnel classification, compensation, and continuous professional development. Much of White’s career has been focused on developing strategies to create more equitable communities. As a leader, he is committed to advancing policies and practices that allow all members of a community to achieve their potential and feel a sense of place and of belonging.

White earned a bachelor’s of science in psychology and human development from Cornell and an executive master’s in business administration from Boston University. He has held positions at Bank of Boston; Citibank; KeyBank; Fidelity Investments; Merrill Lynch; and Toran Enterprises, a consulting firm he founded specializing in executive coaching and professional development in equity and inclusion. Most recently, he served as senior director of human resources for Cornell University’s research division.

 , Interim Vice President for Administration
Justin Wolfradt

Interim Vice President for Administration

As the interim vice president for Administration, Justin Wolfradt is responsible for various aspects of administrative, operational and fiscal functions for Connecticut College. He provides leadership and direction to employees in facilities, construction and planning, sustainability and other operational departments. He plans short- and long-term construction and enhancements to effectively steward and plan for the College’s Master Campus Plan, physical assets and asset reinvestment projects.

Prior to joining Connecticut College, Justin most recently served as the director of facilities and was a member of the strategic administrative team and senior leadership team at Kingswood Oxford School in West Hartford, Conn. He graduated from the University of Connecticut with a B.S. focused in engineering management and earned an M.S. from Southern New Hampshire University with a concentration in construction management.

Office of Finance and Administration