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About Nicola Pitchford

President Pitchford began her tenure as Dominican’s tenth president in 2021. A professor of English and champion of the liberal arts, her research interests and expertise include issues in higher education, contemporary British literature, feminist theory, race and national identity, and landscape writing. Born in the United Kingdom and educated in the United States, she earned an MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin, in English, with an emphasis on modern and contemporary U.S. and British literature. Widely published on such topics as the British novel, Black British writing, nature writing, the liberal arts, and global engagement of faculty, she is also author of the book Tactical Readings: Feminist Postmodernism in the Novels of Kathy Acker and Angela Carter (Bucknell University Press, 2002).In 2022, she was awarded the inaugural Nature Chronicles Prize for her essay, "A Parable of Arable Land."

At Dominican, President Pitchford served previously as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty (2014-2021), Acting President (2018), and Dean of the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (2011-2014), now the School of Liberal Arts and Education. Before joining Dominican’s senior leadership team, between 2001 and 2011 President Pitchford served as Associate Vice President and Associate Chief Academic Officer, Chair of the Department of English, Co-Director of the Literary Studies Program, and Director of the Graduate Studies in English program, at Fordham University in New York. She is a member of the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU), and the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP). She has served on the AICCU Restart Higher Education Task Force (2020), WSCUC accreditation teams (2020 and 2018), the National Fulbright Screening Committee (2008), and has been an occasional manuscript reviewer for PMLA (journal of the Modern Language Association).

Positions

July 2021 - Present University President, Dominican University of California
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2014 - Present Vice President for Academic Affairs & Dean of the Faculty, Dominican University of California ‐ Office of Academic Affairs
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July 2014 - September 2014 Interim Dean, Dominican University of California ‐ School of Education and Counseling Psychology
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2011 - 2014 Dean, Dominican University of California ‐ School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
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2009 - 2011 Associate Vice President and Associate Chief Academic Officer, Fordham University
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2002 - 2011 Associate Professor, Fordham University
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2007 - 2009 Chair, Fordham University ‐ Department of English
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2005 - 2007 Co-Director, Fordham University ‐ Literary Studies Program
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2001 - 2003 Director of Graduate Studies, Fordham University ‐ Department of English
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1995 - 2002 Assistant Professor, Fordham University ‐ Department of English
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1994 - 1995 Lecturer, University of Wisconsin - Madison ‐ Women's Studies Program
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1989 - 1993 Teaching Assistant, University of Wisconsin - Madison ‐ Department of English
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Curriculum Vitae

Disciplines

Research Interests

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Professional Service and Affiliations

Present Member, American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)
Present Member, Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU)
Present Member, Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP)
Present Member, Council of Independent Colleges (CIC)
2022 Member, WSCUC Accreditation Team
2020 Member, AICCU Restart Higher Education Task Force
2020 Member, WSCUC Accreditation Team
2018 Member, WSCUC Accreditation Team
2008 Member, National Fulbright Screening Committee
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Honors and Awards

  • Fordham University Faculty Fellowship (2003)
  • Merit Award, Forham University ( 2004 - 2008)
  • Nature Chronicles Prize, 2022

Education

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1994 Ph.D., University of Wisconsin - Madison ‐ Modern & contemporary US and British literature Interdisciplinary minor in Women’s Studies
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1989 M.A., University of Wisconsin - Madison ‐ English
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1986 B.A., cum laude, Pomona College ‐ English and Creative Writing
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Links

Contact Information

Dominican University of California
50 Acacia Ave.
San Rafael, CA 94901

415.458.3759

Email:

Articles (6)

Book Reviews (3)

Books (1)

Contributions to Books (7)

Presentations (33)