1
a
: the head of the chapter of a collegiate or cathedral church
b
: a Roman Catholic priest who supervises one district of a diocese
2
a
: the head of a division, faculty, college, or school of a university
b
: a college or secondary school administrator in charge of counseling and disciplining students
3
dean
intransitive verb
Examples of dean in a Sentence
She's the dean of the university's business school.
the dean of liberal arts
Recent Examples on the Web
News reports chronicle backlash against a MSNBC analyst, a Middle Tennessee State University assistant dean of students, a University of Mississippi employee and a communications coordinator for the Carolina Panthers.
—
Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 13 Sep. 2025
Matt Parlow has spent much of his career at Chapman University mentoring students, guiding faculty and leading major initiatives in roles that ranged from law professor to law school dean to executive vice president and chief advancement officer.
—Melanie Marshall, Oc Register, 12 Sep. 2025
Wiener disagreed, citing the opinion of Erwin Chemerinsky, a legal scholar and dean of UC Berkeley School of Law, who had previously written that there is not a blanket exemption from state law for federal employees.
—Devan Patel, Mercury News, 12 Sep. 2025
But the incident inspired Hotez, the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, to write his sixth book, Science Under Siege.
—Michal Ruprecht, NPR, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dean
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Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 13 Sep. 2025
Matt Parlow has spent much of his career at Chapman University mentoring students, guiding faculty and leading major initiatives in roles that ranged from law professor to law school dean to executive vice president and chief advancement officer.
—Melanie Marshall, Oc Register, 12 Sep. 2025
Wiener disagreed, citing the opinion of Erwin Chemerinsky, a legal scholar and dean of UC Berkeley School of Law, who had previously written that there is not a blanket exemption from state law for federal employees.
—Devan Patel, Mercury News, 12 Sep. 2025
But the incident inspired Hotez, the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, to write his sixth book, Science Under Siege.
—Michal Ruprecht, NPR, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dean
Cite this Entry
“Dean.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dean. Accessed 15 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
dean
noun1
: the head of the chapter of a cathedral church
2
a
: the head of a division, faculty, college, or school of a university
b
: a college or secondary school administrator in charge of counseling or disciplining students
3
: the senior member of a group
the dean of the diplomatic corps
Biographical Definition
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