Deans Rothenbuhler and MacCartney to Retire
February 27, 2026
Eric Rothenbuhler, Ph.D., dean of the School of Communications, and Danielle MacCartney, Ph.D., interim dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, each have announced they will retire after this academic year. Interim deans will be announced soon.
“We are greatly appreciative of the accomplishments of both Dean Rothenbuhler and Dean MacCartney. Eric oversaw the transformation of the School of Communications into a hub for state-of-the-art technology, and Dani played a leading role in launching and shaping the College of Humanities and Social Sciences as a new academic unit,” said Interim Provost David A. Schmidt, Ph.D. “Both deans are exceptional academic leaders, and they are leaving a lot for the new deans to build upon, and I wish them both the very best in their future endeavors.”
Rothenbuhler was named dean of the School of Communications in 2012, after serving more than 25 years as a professor and administrator at four other universities. During his tenure at Webster, he oversaw the visionary expansion of several programs, including animation, games and game design, sound recording and engineering, sports communications, and film, television, and video production. Several of those programs have since gained national recognition. Rothenbuhler was also instrumental in Webster’s international campuses and programs, especially the establishment of the Tashkent campus.
Rothenbuhler led the renovation of the Sverdrup Complex, turning it into a hub with state-of-the-art communication equipment and the envy of universities in the Midwest. Among the features introduced to the building during his leadership were a virtual cinema video wall that uses the latest technology from Hollywood to simulate locations and settings, a professional-grade recording studio with a suite of control and recording rooms, including an immersive sound control room , digital media production labs, and a podcast studio open to students across campus.
MacCartney was hired as an assistant professor at Webster University in 2007, after serving as a research fellow at the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, and as an editorial assistant at the Journal of Social Problems, then published by the University of California Press. In 2008, she was named the program director and chair of the Women and Gender Studies program at Webster’s Center for Interdisciplinary Studies. In 2011, she received the Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award from the Emerson Foundation and was awarded the William T. Kemper Award for Excellence in Teaching.
In 2013, she was named associate dean. Two years later, she established the first College-wide, interdisciplinary student research conference emphasizing faculty-student collaborative research, a model that was later expanded across the University. She also served on a university-wide steering committee to analyze and make recommendations for operational and academic efficiencies.
MacCartney’s work also advanced Webster’s global and interdisciplinary mission. She served as a fellow in Webster’s Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies, directed the University’s criminology and criminal justice program, developed study-abroad research programs in Ghana, Thailand, Geneva, and Costa Rica, established the Big Questions series to promote thinking deep thoughts about big questions to solve real problems, and in 2021 served as acting academic director in Geneva.
In 2022, she was named interim dean and charged with helping launch the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, guiding the transition of faculty and 18 academic programs from the former College of Arts and Sciences into a newly established college. Across her career at Webster, MacCartney has been recognized for award-winning teaching, support of faculty-student research, interdisciplinary leadership, and commitment to global education.
Schmidt said that interim deans for both colleges will be named before the end of the academic year.