Dr. Caroline M. Kobek Pezzarossi, G-’07 & PhD ’08, has been appointed Dean of Curriculum, Outreach, Resources, and Effectiveness (CORE) at Gallaudet University, effective April 27, 2026. In this role, she will provide overarching academic and administrative leadership for CORE, guiding accreditation and assessment, curriculum innovation, dual enrollment, continuing and online education, and ASL–English bilingual pedagogy in alignment with Gallaudet’s mission and The Gallaudet Promise.
Dr. Kobek Pezzarossi comes to this position after a series of progressively responsible leadership roles that have shaped Gallaudet’s academic infrastructure and institutional effectiveness. Since July 2025, she has served as Interim Dean of CORE, providing strategic direction for accreditation, assessment, curriculum development, distance education, and continuing education, while also assuming responsibilities formerly held by the Chief Bilingual Officer, including ASL–English bilingual pedagogy, language policy, and alignment. From January 2024 to June 2025, she served as Special Assistant to the Provost, acting as a senior advisor on online learning expansion, dual enrollment, and academic credential innovation and coordinating closely with Enrollment, Student Affairs, and other units on academic policy and planning.
Previously, as Director of Institutional Effectiveness & Certification (2021–2023), Dr. Kobek Pezzarossi led Gallaudet’s successful Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) reaccreditation process, overseeing a two-year self-study and site visit and serving as MSCHE Accreditation Liaison Officer. In that role, she developed institution-wide assessment and standardized course evaluation strategies, introduced universal course evaluation policies tied to learning outcomes, and built the infrastructure for consistent annual assessment across academic and administrative units. Her leadership accomplishments also include reorganizing and expanding CORE to absorb functions from the former Chief Bilingual Officer, designing and implementing a university-wide online learning expansion, and increasing dual enrollment to strengthen early college pathways for high school students.
A tenured Professor of Psychology at Gallaudet, Dr. Kobek Pezzarossi’s faculty career has provided a strong foundation for her administrative work, particularly in areas of academic quality, student success, and faculty development. She has served in key university-wide leadership roles—including Vice Chair of the University Faculty and Faculty Senate and Faculty Fellow for Faculty Development—through which she helped strengthen shared governance structures, revise Faculty Handbook policies, and institutionalize comprehensive professional development programming for faculty and staff. She is also recognized nationally as a higher education leader, having completed an American Council on Education (ACE) fellowship and executive education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and serving on boards such as the ACE Council of Fellows and the Maryland Commission on Disabilities.
Colleagues and students know Dr. Kobek Pezzarossi as a thoughtful, collaborative, and visionary leader who bridges institutional strategy, academic operations, and ASL–English bilingual values. As Dean of CORE, she will continue to integrate curriculum development, accreditation and assessment, dual enrollment, continuing and online education, and bilingual pedagogy into a cohesive, mission-driven portfolio, working closely with the Provost, deans, department chairs, faculty governance bodies, and campus partners.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Kobek Pezzarossi on her appointment as Dean of Curriculum, Outreach, Resources, and Effectiveness and in thanking her for her continued leadership and dedication to Gallaudet University.
