Charlena Seymour
Provost and Chief Academic Officer of Simmons College

Previously, Seymour served as Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Seymour brings more than thirty years of academic, administrative, and professional accomplishments to Simmons, including a substantial tenure at the University of Massachusetts, where her she also served as Director of the Communications Disorder Clinic, Chair of the Department of Communications Disorders, and Dean of the Graduate School.

At Amherst, Seymour established the Office of Faculty Development to assist with programs and resources for the mentoring and retention of faculty and helped to design, execute, and monitor the campus diversity plan that increased the numbers of women and minority faculty and students.  Seymour is an expert in speech language pathology, and is published in many journals including The Journal of SPeech and Hearing Disorders, The Journal of Learning Disabilities, South African Journal of Communications Disorders, Journal of Fluency Disorders, and the Scandinavian Journal of Logopedics and Phoniatronics.

She has received numerous awards, including Honors for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, the Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Communications at Howard University, and the award for Intercultural and Race Relations from the Harvard Foundation at Harvard University.  Seymour earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in speech and hearing science from The Ohio State University, and earned her B.F.A. in theater arts from Howard University.

Andrew Effrat
Associate Provost

 Dr. Effrat oversees the budget, admissions, faculty compensation, faculty searches, space, and sponsored research.  The Offices of Institutional Research and Sponsored Programs report to him.  Dr. Effrat participates on search committees, task forces, development of faculty policies, accreditation matters, and matters of the Colleges of the Fenway.  He is also a member of the President's Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council.

Prior to this position, he served as Professor and Associate Provost for faculty recruitment and retention at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He was Chair of the Department of Educational Policy, Research, and Administration, Director of the Center for Education Policy, and Interim Dean of the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Dr. Effrat has published on the sociology of education and educational policy, conducted research and development projects concerning program implementation and evaluation and issues in social justice, and helped create various leadership and professional preparation initiatives in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. One of his recent projects, in collaboration with colleague Nola Stephen and funded by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, involved working with school districts throughout the Commonwealth to enhance the education of under-represented advanced, talented, and creative learners.

Dr. Effrat held faculty and academic administrative positions at Haverford College, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, and York University. He served as editor of Sociological Inquiry, the journal of the national honor society, and founding editor of Interchange: A Journal of Educational Studies. Dr. Effrat holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Harvard University and a B.A. from Princeton University.

Gerald Koocher
Associate Provost

Dr. Koocher oversees academic technology, named centers and institutes, off-site and community partnership programs, and development of new academic ventures aligned with the College's strategy. He provides the leadership for online learning at Simmons, and college-wide academic assessment. Dr. Koocher participates on search committees as well as promotion, tenure, and sabbatical application reviews. He participates on task forces, program and departmental reviews, accreditation planning and site visits, and matters associated with the Colleges of the Fenway. He is also a member of the President's Diversity and Inclusion Council.

Dr. Koocher previously served as Dean of the School of Health Sciences for ten years. He retains his position as Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology. Dr. Koocher developed off-site degree program partnerships and agreements with Boston area institutions including Faulkner Hospital, South Shore Hospital, Winchester Hospital, Brigham and Women's, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Children's Hospital, and with the Prince Sultan University in Saudi Arabia. Koocher is currently editor of the journal Ethics & Behavior, and President of the Brookline Community Mental Health Center. Over the course of his career, he also has been editor of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology and The Clinical Psychologist. Dr. Koocher served as Chief of Psychology at Boston Children's Hospital and the Judge Baker Children's Center, has been a member of the faculty at Harvard Medical School, published more than 200 articles and book chapters, and written or edited fifteen books.

Gerry Koocher was elected a fellow of twelve divisions of the American Psychological Association and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He became the first psychologist to earn five specialty diplomas from the American Boards of Professional Psychology (Clinical, Clinical Child Adolescent, Family, Forensic, and Health Psychology.) He is licensed as a psychologist in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and the District of Columbia. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Missouri and a B.A. in pyschology from Boston University.

Nancy Dimauro
Project Manager 

 Nancy Dimauro is responsible for the management of academic proposals and funded projects: the pre- and post-award management of grant programs, overseeing program support services, including budget, logistics, and other administrative arrangements.

Previously, Dimauro worked as a project consultant for Bay Path College in Longmeadow, MA, assisting in strategic projects for marketing; the College's NEASC accreditation renewal; and a financial literacy education series for women.  Dimauro also served as Director of Operations of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Holyoke, managing the operations and writing and managing grant funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, and numerous private foundations.  Through these grants Dimauro developed and supported strong collaborations with the Holyoke Mayor and Police Chief, Hampden County District Attorney's Office, Massachusetts State Police and Sheriff's Department, the Holyoke Housing AUthoriy, Department of Youth Services, and ten other service agencies.

Nancy Dimauro earned a B.A. degree in psychology, as a Frances Perkins Scholar, from Mount Holyoke College.

Richard Voos
Special Assistant to the Provost

Richard Voos assists with academic strategy and planning, shepherds accreditation and other academic administrative processes, and manages a variety of special projects in the Provost's Office. He also manages the Academic Affairs web site and for Provost's Office communications,.

Previously, over 19 years at Babson College, Voos served in a number of roles, including Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Clerk of the Corporation, Chief of Staff to the President, and Associate Vice President for Planning. Among his responsibilities were coordinating the work of the President's cabinet, directing strategic planning, overseeing institutional research and assessment, and coordinating meetings of the Board of Trustees. Before Babson, he worked for eight years in the Arts and Sciences Library at Tufts University

Richard Voos earned a B.A. degree in history from Dartmouth College and an M.S. in Library and Information Science from Simmons.

Pauline LeBlanc
Assistant to the Provost

Pauline LeBlanc is Assistant to the Provost. Prior to joining Simmons in 2009, she worekd as an administrator for the Office of General Counsel at Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ms. LeBlanc previously worked for employers in the fields of biochemistry and chemistry research, including Brandeis University. She has more than 25 years of experience in academic and business administration.

Ms. LeBlanc holds certification in business administration and she earned her bachelor's degree from Aquinas College in Newton, MA.