Biography
Dr. Diane Helfers Petrella began her tenure as Provost and Senior Vice President at Marshall University on July 1, 2026. Dr. Petrella joins Marshall from Kent State University, where she has served as dean of the College of the Arts since 2021. In this role, she oversaw all academic, fiscal, development, personnel and administrative operations for the college, which includes the School of Fashion Design and Merchandising, School of Art, School of Music, School of Theatre and Dance, Kent State Museum, and numerous regional and national arts programs. As dean, she led a team of more than 190 faculty and staff serving approximately 2,500 students, managing an annual budget of $23 million within a Responsibility Centered Management (RCM) model.
Prior to her tenure at Kent State, Petrella served as dean and professor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory from 2017 to 2021, after holding a variety of leadership and faculty roles there. Earlier in her career, she was a faculty member at Oakland University, the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of North Texas.
Petrella holds a Bachelor of Music from Eastern Illinois University, a Master of Music from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) from the University of North Texas and an Artist Diploma from Texas Christian University.