Sarah K. Fields, J.D., Ph.D., from the Department of Communication, will be the new Acting Associate Dean for Student Success effective January 1, 2016. Fields received her Ph.D. in American Studies in 2000 from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa; her Master of Arts in American Studies in 1996 from Washington State University, Pullman, Washington; her Juris Doctorate in 1994 from Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri; and her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 1990 from Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

She previously taught at Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Georgia, and Ohio State University. Her research and teaching focuses largely on the intersection of sport and American culture, specifically examining issues of gender, injury, and law, and she is the author of Female Gladiators: Gender, Law, and Contact Sport in America (University of Illinois Press, 2005). Fields is a recreational athlete who enjoys outdoor activities with her dogs and partner as well as watching television with her cat.