Today, I write with news that is bittersweet for us here at UMBC and unequivocally wonderful for an outstanding higher education neighbor of ours. Kimberly R. Moffitt, dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) and professor of Language, Literacy and Culture, has been named dean of the Cathy Hughes School of Communications at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

The appointment is also a homecoming for Kimberly, as she earned her Ph.D. in mass communication/media studies from Howard, which last month became the first historically Black college or university (HBCU) to achieve a Research 1 Carnegie Classification. We are thrilled for Kimberly and wish her continued success as a scholar and academic leader. We also are deeply grateful for her service to UMBC and her partnership in university leadership.

Kimberly has been a member of the UMBC community since 2006, when she began as a visiting assistant professor of American studies. A tenured faculty member since 2014, she became director of the graduate program in Language, Literacy, and Culture in 2018, and served as interim dean of CAHSS, our largest academic unit, for more than a year before being named to the role permanently in 2022.

An advisor or co-advisor to 20 doctoral students throughout her time at UMBC, Kimberly has continued to teach and mentor students while serving as dean, and she is a tireless advocate for students, faculty, and staff. As dean, Kimberly established funds to provide study abroad scholarships for CAHSS majors, as well as to support students with summer stipends for unpaid internships. She instituted undergraduate and graduate student advisory boards, an Associate Professor Initiative to support mid-career faculty, and the Creative Achievement and Research Administration Team, which provides services to faculty seeking external grants and fellowships. Most recently, she created a staff development fund for professional development.

Kimberly led the Breaking the M.O.L.D. (Mellon/Maryland Opportunities for Leadership Development) program, supported by a $3 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. A collaboration with Morgan State University and the University of Maryland, College Park, the program aims to help broaden the pipeline to higher education leadership for scholars in the arts and humanities. She was also a principal investigator on the Global Asias Initiative and the Baltimore Field School project, both of which received support from the Mellon Foundation. The creation of CAHSS’s two newest research institutes—the Institute of Politics and the Public Health Research Center—further demonstrate her support of the university’s commitment to community engagement, both in scholarship and practice.

Meanwhile, she has been deeply engaged in the Baltimore community as well, including as a board member of Maryland Humanities, Afro Charities, the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance, and as a founding board member of the Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys charter school.

Her research on mediated representations of marginalized groups and Black hair and body politics has been published extensively in academic journals, media outlets, and in several edited volumes, including Michelle Obama and the FLOTUS Effect: Platform, Presence, and Agency; Blackberries and Redbones: Critical Articulations of Black Hair/Body Politics in Africana Communities; and Gladiators in Suits: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Representation in Scandal. She has served in leadership roles with the National Communication Association, including co-editorship of Critical Studies in Media Communication, and she currently serves as president of the National Association of Media Literacy Education.

For her many contributions to academic leadership and scholarship in her field, Kimberly has been honored with awards at UMBC and beyond, including an Outstanding Faculty Award from the UMBC Alumni Association and an Outstanding Book Award from the National Communication Association. The Daily Record recently named her one of its Top 100 Maryland Women for 2025.

Kimberly will be with us through the end of the academic year. We will share information about a search for her successor in CAHSS at a later date. For now, congratulations and best wishes, Kimberly, and thank you for your dedication and service to UMBC!

Sincerely,