Lori Tenser

Lori Tenser serves as Dean of the First-Year Class each year. As Class Dean, Dean Tenser provides guidance and support to first-year students as they make the transition into the college environment. Students meet individually and in groups with Dean Tenser throughout the academic year, to plan their course schedules, discuss options, interests and challenges, and begin to identify their academic goals. The First-Year Dean’s Office also is responsible for New Student Orientation and the First-Year Mentor Program.

Dean Tenser holds a B.A. in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis and an M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  She currently is pursuing her doctorate in education at Boston College. 

Jennifer Stephan

Jennifer Stephan is the Interim Dean of the Class of 2012. Dean Stephan came to the Class Deans' Office from the Computer Science Department at Wellesley, where she taught for thirteen years. Before coming to Wellesley, Dean Stephan earned a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

John T. O'Keefe

John O’Keefe is Dean of the Class of 2011. Dean O’Keefe came to Wellesley from Harvard College where he most recently was Assistant Dean of the College. Prior to that he served as the resident academic dean of one of the Harvard Houses, and taught for ten years in the History and Literature program there.

He is a graduate of Columbia College, and studied at the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania and at Harvard Divinity School before earning a Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization at Harvard. In addition to working directly with students as Class Dean, he is also Director of Advising and Academic Support Services, and responsible for coordinating advising services for all Wellesley students.

Susan Cohen

Susan Cohen, Dean of the Class of 2010 and Davis Scholars, joined the Class Deans in 1986 as Dean of the Class of 1989 and is now in her ninth cycle in the Class Deans' Office. A graduate of Cornell with a Ph.D from Yale, she was an Assistant Professor of English at Yale before coming to Wellesley in 1984; since then she has often taught courses in the English Department and the Writing Program. She is currently Director of the Davis Degree Program.