VCU news

By Mike Porter

Following a national search, Montserrat Fuentes, Ph.D., has been named dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University College of Humanities and Sciences, effective July 1.

Fuentes currently serves as the head of the Department of Statistics and James M. Goodnight Distinguished Professor of Statistics at North Carolina State University.

The VCU College of Humanities and Sciences houses the core disciplines in the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, enrolling about 14,000 students in two schools and numerous departments and programs. Eight of the 12 largest undergraduate majors are in the college.

We are delighted to have Dr. Fuentes join the VCU leadership team. 

“We are delighted to have Dr. Fuentes join the VCU leadership team,” said Gail Hackett, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Her diverse educational background and her prolific work within her field of research will complement the outstanding record of the faculty in VCU's College of Humanities and Sciences.”

Fuentes has served as a professor of statistics in the NC State Department of Statistics for 18 years. She holds her appointment in the NC State College of Sciences and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and serves as center director for the Research Network for Statistical Methods for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, a research collaborative funded by the National Science Foundation. 

Fuentes is a visiting scientist for the Environmental Protection Agency and sits on three committees for the National Academy of Sciences. She also serves as editor of the Journal of American Statistical Association, Applications and Case Studies.

Fuentes received a dual bachelor’s degree in mathematics and music (piano) from the University of Valladolid in Spain and a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Chicago.

Alison Baski, Ph.D., has served as interim dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences since last summer.