Debbie Tahmassebi, Ph.D. is dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Santa Clara University. Prior to her appointment at SCU, Tahmassebi served as associate dean of program development in the College of Arts and Sciences, chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and special assistant to the Provost at the University of San Diego. Tahmassebi joined the faculty at the University of San Diego in 1999. As an organic chemist with interests in the synthesis and structural analysis of biologically relevant molecules, she studied novel nucleosides and amino-acid derivatives. Tahmassebi earned her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Washington and her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University of California, San Diego.