Carin Silkaitis joins UAS as new Dean of Arts & Sciences

July 23, 2021

The University of Alaska Southeast is pleased to announce that Carin Silkaitis has been named as the new Dean of Arts & Sciences, and started with UAS on July 12. She replaces Dr. Paula Martin, who has served as the interim dean of the school since April 2021. As dean, Silkatis will provide leadership for the school and its four departments: Business and Public Administration, Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences. Silkaitis will alternate between Juneau and Chicago over the next academic year.

Most recently Carin Silkaitis worked for Columbia College Chicago where she served as the Allen and Lynn Turner Chair of the Theatre Department, serving 91 faculty members and almost 800 students. Prior to that she worked for North Central College as the department chair for both art and theatre, and was also a Title IX Investigator and lead trainer of the Green Dot Bystander Technique. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Indiana University. She holds a master of fine arts in theatre performance from Roosevelt University in Illinois.

Her wife Chrissy is a clinical massage therapist. They have two children, one a graduate of Augustana College who is working as an accountant and the other who is a senior in high school. As for other interests, Silkaitis remarked, “I am a certified scuba diver working on my advanced certification (I have completed my deep and my dark dives). I love the ocean and I’m very passionate about ocean conservation. I love to travel and explore new places.”

As dean, Carin Silkaitis will oversee the largest school at the university. The UAS School of Arts & Sciences offers a broad set of degrees, programs, and courses to provide students with the knowledge, skills, and credentials needed for success in their careers -- more than just entry into the workforce. It is a sustained path to lifelong learning, personal development, social identity and collaboration, and civic and professional responsibility.