About Acting Dean Wanda S. Pillow

Wanda S. Pillow is a professor of Gender Studies, and she has served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and former chair of the Gender Studies Division in the School for Cultural and Social Transformation. She is currently serving as Acting Dean of the College of Humanities.

Pillow is a first-generation student and an award-winning teacher, mentor, and scholar. Professor Pillow earned her doctorate in Educational Policy and Gender Studies from Ohio State University and is tenured in the Division of Gender Studies at the University of Utah.  She is co-Editor of the journal Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studiesand currently principle investigator on a Mellon Multifocal Humanities grant. Professor Pillow’s publications are widely read across multiple fields of study and her research has been recognized with funding by the Mellon Foundation as well as recent fellowships at the Huntington Library, the National Humanities Center, and the Newberry Library.

Professor Pillow’s work focuses on analyses of power, subjectivity, and representation in feminist inquiry and theory as well as applied research projects that explore how these issues impact American identity in policy and popular culture. For example, Unfit Subjects: Educational Policy and the Teen Mother  traces how pregnant/parenting teens were treated prior to and post Title IX and her in progress manuscript, Troubling Intimacies/Sacajawea and York as American Subjects, analyzes historical and present-day representations of Sacajawea and York, captured and enslaved members of the U.S.1804-1806 Corps of Discovery expedition. Professor Pillow has a range of leadership experience and is committed to mentoring students and emerging scholars. This commitment was recognized in Spring 2021 when Professor Pillow received a Distinguished Mentor Award from the University of Utah.

In addition to a distinguished scholarly career, Pillow is noted for her talents and experience as a leader. During her tenure as chair and later associate dean of Academic Affairs at the School for Social and Cultural Transformation (Transform), Pillow led initiatives to support student success, faculty mentoring, raise the profile of Transform and helped the college navigate a recent leadership change.

Pillow recognizes the social value of the humanities in today’s complex global landscapes. “Despite the emphasis on technical degrees that is currently circulating in popular discourse,” she said, “the humanities have enduring value—underpinning and intersecting with every academic discipline and industry. The humanities teach us how to see clearly, think creatively, and connect humanely. I can think of nothing more crucial for success in the world we live in today.”