Dr. Robin Suzanne Poston will become Southern Methodist University’s (SMU) next dean of the Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies and associate provost for graduate education. 
Dr. Robin Suzanne Poston
Poston is currently vice provost and dean of the Graduate School at the University of Memphis. She is also director of the Systems Testing Excellence Program (STEP) at the University of Memphis’ FedEx Institute of Technology.
“The Moody School for Graduate and Advanced Studies is focused on improving the quality and success of SMU’s graduate programs in concert with strategic investments in the research enterprise,” said Dr. Elizabeth G. Loboa, SMU provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Graduate education is an essential component of a university’s research ecosystem, and doctoral students, in particular, constitute important metrics in the Carnegie Classification, which is used to distinguish universities in terms of their research productivity.
“Dr. Poston is a proven leader with deep experience at the intersection of research and graduate education,” Loboa added. “She was the chief architect in the rise of University of Memphis from R2 to R1 in the Carnegie rankings, and we are excited that she is joining SMU’s leadership team at this time in our quest for even greater academic quality.”
Poston holds a B.A.S. in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania, and a M.S. in accounting from the University of Central Florida. She earned a Ph.D. in business administration with a concentration in management information systems from Michigan State University.
