{"id":29540,"date":"2026-05-29T10:55:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T14:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/?p=29540"},"modified":"2026-05-29T11:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T15:07:14","slug":"marshall-announces-new-dean-for-college-of-liberal-arts-leadership-transition-in-college-of-health-professions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/2026\/05\/marshall-announces-new-dean-for-college-of-liberal-arts-leadership-transition-in-college-of-health-professions\/","title":{"rendered":"Marshall announces new dean for College of Liberal Arts, leadership transition in College of Health Professions"},"content":{"rendered":"
Marshall University has announced leadership transitions in two academic colleges, naming Dr. Christopher Morrow dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Dr. Scott Davis interim dean of the College of Health Professions.<\/p>\n

Morrow will join Marshall on June 29 from the University of Texas Permian Basin, where he serves as the inaugural dean of the College of Arts and Humanities. Davis will assume interim leadership of the College of Health Professions for the 2026-27 academic year following the retirement of Dr. Michael Prewitt on June 30, 2026.<\/p>\n

Following a national search, Morrow was selected from a group of finalists who visited campus during the spring 2026 semester. He will lead the College of Liberal Arts in advancing academic excellence, student success and community engagement. He earned a doctorate and master\u2019s degree in English literature from Texas A&M University and a bachelor\u2019s degree in English literature from University of Wyoming.<\/p>\n

Before joining UTPB, Morrow served as department head of English and languages at Tarleton State University. He also spent 13 years at Western Illinois University in several leadership roles, including interim department head, director of the University Writing Center, director of graduate studies in English and chair of the departmental personnel committee. A first-generation college student from Fort Stockton, Texas, Morrow has focused his career on promoting access to higher education and advancing the humanities through interdisciplinary collaboration and community partnerships.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Morrow is committed to promoting critical thinking, creativity, communication and cultural understanding through curriculum development, program expansion, faculty mentoring and regional partnerships,\u201d said Dr. Robert Bookwalter, interim provost at Marshall University.<\/p>\n

Morrow succeeds Dr. Kelli Prejean, who served as interim dean and will return to her role as associate dean while continuing to teach.<\/p>\n

The university also announced the retirement of Dr. Michael Prewitt, dean of the College of Health Professions, effective June 30, 2026, after years of service to the university and the health professions community.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Prewitt\u2019s tenure as dean has been marked by steady growth, academic innovation, strengthened clinical partnerships and an unwavering commitment to student success,\u201d Bookwalter said.<\/p>\n

Under Prewitt\u2019s leadership, the college expanded academic programs, strengthened clinical partnerships and advanced its mission of preparing highly skilled health care professionals to serve communities across the region.<\/p>\n

Davis, who currently serves as chair of the School of Physical Therapy, will lead the college on an interim basis while Marshall conducts a national search for the next permanent dean during the upcoming academic year.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Davis brings valuable experience and a strong understanding of the college\u2019s programs, faculty and strategic priorities,\u201d Bookwalter said.<\/p>\n

In addition to serving as chair of the School of Physical Therapy since 2016, Davis previously served as chair of Marshall\u2019s Graduate Council.<\/p>\n

The College of Liberal Arts at Marshall University offers programs across the arts, humanities and social sciences, while the College of Health Professions prepares students for careers in a variety of health care fields through academic, clinical and community-based learning opportunities.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marshall University has announced leadership transitions in two academic colleges, naming Dr. Christopher Morrow dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Dr. Scott Davis interim dean of the College of Health Professions. Morrow will join Marshall on June 29 from the University of Texas Permian Basin, where he serves as the inaugural dean of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":239,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,38,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cohp","category-cola","category-news-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/239"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29540"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29544,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29540\/revisions\/29544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}