Introducing our Interim Dean

Dr. Traci Zimmerman (‘92, ‘94M), the new Interim Dean of CAL, has a long relationship with JMU. A teacher, scholar, administrator, and alumna, she brings both an ethic of service and a legacy of strong leadership to the role.

As a Professor in the School of Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication, her research focuses on authorship, intellectual property, language and the law, and digital literacies and is inspired by her

interest in privacy, technology, and the public domain. Her work as an administrator has also prompted her to investigate inclusive labor practices and transformative framings of feminist work.

In 2000, Zimmerman began teaching in WRTC and served as its Academic Unit Head for seven years before joining the dean’s office in 2020 as an Associate Dean. While initially focused on undergraduate recruitment, student affairs, curriculum, and communications and marketing, she later assumed responsibility for overseeing faculty and staff relations in the college.

Zimmerman earned her Ph.D. in English from Case Western Reserve University. A firstgeneration CAL alum, she received both an M.A. and a B.A. in English from James Madison University. She also earned a Master of Science in Jurisprudence (M.S.J.) from Seton Hall Law in 2017, with a concentration in Intellectual Property Law.