Dr. Pamela O’Brien Named Dean, Behavioral & Social Sciences

Harford Community College is pleased to announce that Dr. Pamela C. O’Brien has been named the new Dean for Behavioral & Social Sciences. She begins her role at the College on July 7, 2025.

Dr. O’Brien previously served as the Dean of the School of Arts, Sciences and Business at Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) in Baltimore, MD, and was a tenured Professor in the Communication Arts department. She oversaw 14 academic departments ranging from Art Therapy to Health Sciences to Psychology. In addition, she served as the Director of the Study Abroad program and oversaw the Morrissy Honors program, International Student Services, and Service Learning and Community Engagement offices. While at NDMU, she led a successful General Education reform effort and was part of the Title III implementation team that brought Navigate to the campus. Navigate is a comprehensive, student-centered technology platform that creates a coordinated care network that supports student success, thereby improving student retention and graduation rates. 

Prior to NDMU, she taught for 10 years at Bowie State University (Prince Georges County, MD) where she served as Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Communications. She was also the Program Coordinator for the M.A. in Organizational Communication, where she worked to grow the program from less than 20 to almost 100 students in three years. Dr. O’Brien also taught for nine years at The George Washington University (Washington, D.C.). She has been active on curriculum, assessment, and strategic planning committees across the various institutions where she has worked.

Dr. O’Brien serves on Middle States Accreditation Site Teams. In the last year, she has been a team member for a Substantive Change site visit, as well as a Reaffirmation of Accreditation site team.

She received a B.A. in Radio-Television from Southern Methodist University (University Park, TX). She earned an M.A. in Telecommunications and a Ph.D. in Mass Communications with a minor in Film Studies from Indiana University (Bloomington, IN). Her research interests are the critical/cultural and historical study of animation, advertising law, and the impact of communication technology. She has many publications and conference presentations in these areas. Dr. O’Brien also researches social media and co-founded the Social Media Technology Conference and Workshop held at Howard University.

Dr. O’Brien is a member of animal rescue groups including Phoenix Landing, which helps to rehome parrots and other birds, and the National Great Pyrenees Rescue organization.