Contact the Dean
Office of the dean
Heidi Wayment
Interim Dean, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Heidi has an extensive record of successful leadership as chair of the Department of Psychological Sciences (3 terms) and served as Associate Dean for SBS from 2016-2018. Heidi was also the inaugural director and one of the lead designers of the Interdisciplinary Health PhD program. Heidi has experience with the many aspects of the Dean’s Office and has knowledge of units across the college.
Heidi earned her PhD in social psychology at UCLA (1992) and is a Professor of Psychological Sciences at Northern Arizona University. A successful teacher and scholar, she has published over 80 research articles in top journals in the areas of social psychology, health psychology, and health promotion. In the past 15 years Heidi is best known for her basic and applied research on the “quiet ego” – a non-defensive self-identity. Heidi is a named Fellow of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology and the Association of Psychological Science. Heidi’s research interests include self-evaluation processes, psychosocial predictors of reactions to stress, and predictors of health attitudes and behavior.
Heidi’s leadership in the Department of Psychological Sciences has supported the high level of undergraduate student participation in research, with a recent focus on increasing opportunities for first generation and underrepresented minority students. Heidi has a long record of leadership in supporting faculty careers, especially among women and others underrepresented in sciences. She serves as a co-investigator and lead for the Investigator Development Core of the Southwest Health Equity Collaborative (SHERC), which provides mentoring and other support for early career faculty. Heidi was also Co-Recipient of Commission on the Status of Women Outstanding Achievement and Contribution Award that was awarded to the NSF Advance Institutional Transformation proposal team (2016). She will provide strong and positive leadership for SBS as the search for the next dean extends into the Fall term.
Lynn Jones
Associate Dean for Personnel and Graduate Programs
Lynn Jones serves as the Associate Dean for Personnel and Graduate Programs in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) and is Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. She previously served her home department as Associate Chair, Interim Chair, and graduate coordinator for the department’s M.S. in Applied Criminology program.
Throughout her career, Lynn has been involved in advocating for inclusive and equitable processes and policies that support students and faculty, such as through her leadership chairing the SBS Promotion & Tenure committee, co-chairing the University Hearing Board, and advising on the university’s Campus Climate Survey.
Lynn received her master’s and doctoral degrees in Sociology at the University of Arizona, where she studied the dynamics of law and policy in justice professions, including emotion management in victim services and cause lawyering among social movements. Her continued research interests emphasize gender, difference, and justice, with a particular interest in how justice professionals and activists advocate for legal and social change. Examples of her work include the textbook Investigating Difference: Human and Cultural Relations in Criminal Justice, and research publications in the Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Journal of Criminal Justice Education, Violence and Victims, and Theoretical Criminology. Her collaborative community-based work has been funded by the Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime and the Center for Victim Research, and she enjoys supporting faculty and facilitating their research opportunities in her associate dean role.
T. Mark Montoya
Associate Dean for Curriculum and Student Affairs
Mark Montoya is the Associate Dean for Curriculum and Student Affairs and Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. This year he will be serving as a Provost’s Leadership Fellow (2022-2023) and is the past Director of Ethnic Studies. A first-generation college student, T. Mark attended New Mexico State University (NMSU), where he received a BA in History and a MA in Government. He moved to Arizona to pursue a PhD in Political Science at NAU, which he completed with Distinction in 2009.
Mark’s scholarship centers broadly on the US-Mexico borderlands, borderlands pedagogy, citizenship, Ethnic Studies, Latinx Studies, DACA, Hip Hop, and first-generation student experiences. At NAU, T. Mark is most involved with the First-generation Learning Community, the Teaching Academy, and the Commission on Ethnic Diversity. He also serves as President of the Association for Borderlands Studies, chair of the Northern Arizona Dream Fund, and is on the editorial board for the Journal of First-generation Student Success.
Mark has received many awards for his teaching and support of students including the Victoria Foundation’s Outstanding Latinx Faculty Service/Teaching in Arizona Higher Education Award (2019), Commencement Speaker for SBS and University College (2016), SBS Teacher of the Year (2015), Outstanding Advocate Award for First-Generation College Students (2013), and the NAU President’s Award for Ethnic Diversity (2012). He is honored to be named a President’s Distinguished Teaching Fellow (2022) and looks forward to advancing student success in his associate dean role.