Salma Ghanem

Salma Ghanem, PhD, serves as Provost of DePaul University, appointed May 7, 2021, after serving as interim provost (July 2019–May 2021) and acting provost (October 2018–July 2019). She joined DePaul in August 2014 as Dean of the College of Communication, following prior deanship at Central Michigan University's College of Communication and Fine Arts and chairmanship of the Department of Communication at University of Texas Pan American.

Education:

• PhD in Journalism, University of Texas at Austin (1996)

Research Focus: Dr. Ghanem specializes in political communication with emphasis on agenda setting and framing theories. Her work spans international media coverage, intercultural communication dynamics, and Middle Eastern advertising practices. As founding editor of the Agenda Setting Journal and board member of the International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies, she drives scholarly discourse in these fields.

Awards & Recognition:

• Multiple unspecified research and teaching awards

Professional Background: Beyond academia, she served as Press and Information Officer for Egypt's UN Mission in New York and as Communication Specialist at Texas A&M Health Science Center. Her 15-year tenure at Hispanic Serving Institution University of Texas Pan American included directing study-abroad programs across Spain, Egypt, Turkey, Austria, and Germany.

Diversity Leadership: Fluent in Arabic and French with working Spanish proficiency, her Egyptian-Dutch heritage and immigrant experience inform her commitment to transcultural education and institutional diversity initiatives.