Leadership
Ayanna K. Thomas
Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Professor of Psychology
Ayanna K. Thomas became the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in February 2025. Since 2021 she has also served as the Dean of Research for the School of Arts and Sciences. Dean Thomas joined Tufts Department of Psychology in 2007 as an Assistant Professor, where she established the meta-Cognition and Applied Memory Lab. She was promoted to the role of Associate Professor in 2013 and Professor in 2019. She has served as Director of Graduate Studies for her department, helping to maintain the strong reputation of its graduate program.
In her role as Professor of Psychology, Dean Thomas investigates the subjective experience that accompanies memories. Her research encompasses metacognition, memory distortion, eyewitness memory, and applying cognition to education. Her more recent work has demonstrated that memory errors can be exacerbated when people are not able to exercise metacognitive control at retrieval. She is also leading an effort to advance innovation across disciplines as a co-primary investigator for a National Science Foundation Growing Convergence Research award-supported project where an interdisciplinary team across Tufts aims to help STEM students to reframe and engage with ambiguity, uncertainty, and confusion.
Dean Thomas received her PhD in Cognitive Psychology from the University of Washington, and then spent three years as an NIA postdoctoral fellow at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. She also holds a BA in Psychology and African American Studies from Wesleyan University.
Karen Panetta
Dean of Graduate Education for the School of Engineering
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dean Karen Panetta received a BS in Computer Engineering from Boston University, and a MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University. Her research focuses on developing efficient algorithms for simulation, modeling, signal and image processing for security and biomedical applications. Dean Panetta is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and was awarded the 2013 IEEE Award for Distinguished Ethical Practices “for exemplary contributions and leadership in developing ethics and social responsibility in students.” Her volunteer service with the IEEE has brought much collaboration and increased exposure to Tufts University. Her commitment to promoting the interests of the university is also evident in her service on the AS&E Executive Committee and as its liaison to the Trustee University Advancement Committee.
Dean Panetta is the recipient of several NASA and National Science Foundation Research Grants, including the NSF CAREER Award. As the first female electrical engineer to be given tenure in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department, Dean Panetta continues to promote the interests of women in her field. She was the worldwide director for IEEE Women in Engineering, the largest international professional organization dedicated to promoting women engineers and scientists, from 2007-2009, and served as editor-in-chief of the IEEE Women in Engineering magazine. She is the faculty adviser to the Tufts student chapters of both the Society of Women Engineers and the IEEE, and is founder of the nationally acclaimed “Nerd Girls” program that promotes the engineering disciplines to young students.
Dean Panetta has been recognized for her commitment to education with awards such as the Madeline and Henry Fischer Best Engineering Teacher Award in 2003, the IEEE Major Educational Innovation Award in 2010, and the Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision Award for Social Impact in 2011. In 2010, she received the American Association of Engineering Societies' Norm Augustine Award for communicating the excitement of engineering through outreach activities that promote careers in science and engineering, and encourage youth to improve the environment and change the lives of individuals and communities. Most notably, in 2011 President Barack Obama awarded Dean Panetta the Presidential Award for Science and Engineering Education and Mentoring.