Higher Ed Scholar Joins CSM Board of Directors

Dr. Melissa Fitzsimons Kean, centennial historian for Rice University has joined the College of Saint Mary board of directors.

Kean is a scholar of American higher education and author of Desegregating Private Higher Education in the South: Duke, Emory, Rice, Tulane, and Vanderbilt. She holds two masters degrees in history, from Creighton University and Rice University, as well as a J.D. from the University of Iowa. She earned her Ph.D. in history from Rice, where she was named that institution’s first university historian.

Named one of Houston’s 41 Most Fascinating People by the Houston Chronicle, Kean serves on advisory boards for Hobby School of Public Policy, University of Houston; Iowa State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and Abramson Center for the Future of Health, University of Houston and Methodist Hospital Research Institute. Kean also serves as vice chairman for the board of directors of America Media; and chairman for St. Constantine Orthodox School.