Dean
On August 1, 2020, Kecia M. Thomas became the fourth Dean of the UAB College of Arts and Sciences. Prior to joining the leadership team at UAB, Dr. Thomas was the Senior Associate Dean in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia where she began her career in 1993 as a Professor of Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology and African-American Studies.
Dr. Thomas is an expert in the psychology of workplace diversity. Her scholarship and institutional engagements focus on the issues of strategic diversity recruitment, supporting diversity in STEM workplaces, and understanding the career experiences of high potential women of color. She is the author of over 60 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters as well as the first I/O diversity textbook Diversity Dynamics in the Workplace (Thomson Wadsworth). She also served as editor of six volumes, including Diversity Resistance in the Workplace vol. 1 & 2 (Taylor-Francis/Routledge) and Diversity Ideologies in Organizations (Routledge). Her research has been funded by federal agencies, for-profit and non-profit institutions, and corporate foundations. She is an elected-Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race, and the Society of I/O Psychology. She is also a past recipient of the Janet Chusmir Award for Distinguished Service from the Academy of Management. She currently serves on the national change team for the NSF-funded Aspire, the national alliance for inclusive and diverse STEM faculty.
She has conducted applied research or provided professional development for diverse organizations including Change Healthcare, the State of Georgia (White County School District), Liberty Healthcare, the College of Charleston, Lakota Local School District (OH), institutions in the Wisconsin and North Carolina university systems, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Georgia Public Library System. This applied work has focused on launching diversity and inclusion climate studies, diversity training design and delivery, facilitation of diversity strategic plans, and small group coaching.
Dr. Thomas earned a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish from Bucknell University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in I/O Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University. She is also a graduate of the HERS Management Institute at Wellesley College, the SEC Academic Leadership Development Program, and the University System of Georgia Executive Leadership Institute.
Dr. Thomas is a native of New Jersey and is mom to son Chad, who is a Morehouse College alum and a doctoral student at the University of Iowa, and daughter Jordan, who is an undergraduate student at Vanderbilt University.