New Leadership Roles at Newhouse School 

Two veteran Newhouse professors have assumed new leadership roles at the school. 

Hua Jiang, a professor of public relations, is now interim associate dean for diversity, equity, inclusivity and accessibility (DEIA), while Aileen Gallagher ’99, G’20, a professor of magazine, news and digital journalism, is the new associate dean for academic affairs.  

Jiang and Gallagher enter their first full semester in their new positions after Dean Mark J. Lodato made the announcements over the summer. They are members of the dean’s leadership team.

Hua Jiang

Jiang leads strategic planning in DEIA at the Newhouse School, including efforts to recruit diverse students, faculty and staff; programming for marginalized students; campus visits by diverse industry leaders, thinkers and scholars; and course development. For the 2024-2025 academic year, Jiang is aligning Newhouse’s DEIA programming with the school’s strategic plan, including an emphasis on community engagement, and outreach to current and prospective students. Priorities also include nurturing an inclusive learning environment; organizing a DEIA climate assessment; and fostering effective communication with the Newhouse community. 

Jiang, who was promoted to full professor earlier this year, started teaching at Newhouse in 2013. From 2022 to 2024, she served as associate dean for academic affairs at Newhouse. During her tenure, she fostered a renewed sense of openness and collaboration in leading curricular and instructional excellence at Newhouse. Jiang successfully collaborated with department chairs and graduate program directors on numerous innovative curricular initiatives. In addition, Jiang spearheaded efforts to ensure that faculty teaching excellence was recognized across at the University and school levels. 

As a leading scholar in public relations, Jiang has published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and serves on the editorial boards of the top three public relations journals. She earned her Ph.D. in communication from the University of Maryland, College Park. 

Aileen Gallagher

Gallagher joined the Newhouse School faculty in 2010 after an impressive journalism career. Her most recent industry position was at New York Magazine, where she shared several National Magazine Awards with her colleagues. Gallagher became interim chair of magazine, news and digital journalism in 2021 before being appointed chair the following year.  

Also in 2022, Gallagher spearheaded the complex reaccreditation process for Newhouse as the school’s assessment director and wrote a self-study one site team member described as “the best I have ever read.”  

Gallagher, whose research interests are digital editorial and journalism education, was promoted to full professor in 2023. A nationally recognized expert on the magazine industry, she has been interviewed by outlets including The New York Times, CNN and Marketplace. Since joining the faculty, Gallagher has written for The Washington Post, New York Magazine, Slate and elsewhere. 

Gallagher completed the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Management Development Program in June. She is a two-time graduate of Syracuse University, earning a master’s in higher education, as well as a bachelor’s degree as a dual major in newspaper from Newhouse and history from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and the College of Arts and Sciences.