Over the summer, Marymount University appointed longtime faculty member Dr. Skye Donovan as the new Dean of the College of Health and Education. In this role, she will be responsible for leading the academic and administrative direction of the College, with a focus on educating the next generation of learners and fostering collaboration among faculty and staff.
What was your career path before coming to Marymount?
I started my career as a foundational scientist, holding a Ph.D. in biochemistry and biophysics. While completing my thesis defense for my bench research project, I realized I wanted a career where I was working more closely with my community. This led me to pursue a physical therapy degree. After practicing physical therapy in the orthopedic outpatient environment for several years, I pivoted to applying for jobs in the education space. I had always been an educator—I was educating my patients on a day-to-day basis. I am also so passionate about the physical therapy field. I thought, “what is a way I can propel the profession forward?” And that’s training the next generation. The impact of working upstream and trying to train students to be excellent clinicians is really what brought me into academia.
What are your reflections on your career trajectory?
I never imagined myself being a program chair or an associate dean or a dean, but if I look at my career over the past several years, it has been focused on training the next generation—really helping people be empowered to see their impact on others. What drives me is supporting others and allowing them to be their best selves, and I apply that to both students and faculty. Although I miss being in the classroom, being able to work at that level with my fellow faculty is something that brings me great joy.
What has been a philosophy you have lived by throughout your career?
When I was in the classroom, I would teach a course in gross anatomy that many think doesn’t change very much. But I learned that education is continually changing, and learners are changing. The way they’re consuming information is changing. I try to impart that nature of curiosity, the importance of adapting technology and using our students as teachers for us. Thinking through the ways that they’re learning, how we can change our delivery modes and how we can stay contemporary—because we definitely want our message to be heard.
What’s your proudest professional accomplishment?
In 2021, I was awarded the Societal Impact Award from the American Physical Therapy Association. That was more important than any of my promotions or professional positions, because the award spoke to my ethos of giving back to the community. I was very grateful that my colleagues put my name forward because of the good work they think I’m doing in the community.
What three words best describe you?
The first one would be that I’m an includer—I love to hear from many perspectives. The second would be positive—I have a really optimistic outlook. For the third, I think other people would describe me as driven. However, I prefer the word energetic.
How do you define success at an academic institution?
We need to act like students, because we are all learners. There’s always someone new to meet, there’s always something new to learn and we should all be curious. If we act in that mindset, we will not only be successful but also be good stewards of the new information that’s coming at us and use that to make different lives in our community better.
What do you hope to bring to Marymount as the new Dean of the College of Health and Education?
I aim to reaffirm the University’s values as Dean of our College, which includes what we call the “helping professions.” We have Education, Counseling, Health Sciences and Nursing. I would love to see us work together more frequently in more impactful ways and be an important part of our surrounding community and globally, so that people remember Marymount for how we change people’s lives.
Being a dean is such a privilege, and Marymount is so important to me. If you cut my arm, you would probably see that I bleed blue. I have been here for 18 years, and I never want to leave. I have developed such rich relationships with my faculty and staff colleagues and thousands of students. Having the privilege to lead this College into the next 75 years and beyond is something I am very committed to, and I feel honored to walk these halls every single day.
