Augustana College has successfully appointed Dr. Gauri Pitale as their new Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Dr. Pitale will begin her new role on February 29th. Dr. Pitale comes to Augustana from 3 years as Associate Dean of Students for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Bridgewater College. She has extensive experience in DEI programming and in the advising of student clubs and organizations. Previously, Dr. Pitale served as assistant professor in the department of life sciences at Ivy Tech Community College. She earned her bachelor’s in ancient Indian culture at St. Xavier’s College (University of Mumbai), Mumbai, India. She holds master’s degrees in biological anthropology from Southern Illinois University and in ancient Indian culture, history and archaeology from Deccan College (Deemed University), Pune, India. She earned her Ph.D. in medical anthropology from Southern Illinois University. Read more.