Interim Dean Dr. Margaret T. (“Molly”) McGehee

Dr. Margaret T. (“Molly”) McGehee serves as the Interim Dean of Oxford College of Emory University, where she continues to advance the College’s tradition of academic excellence, innovation, and community engagement.

A dedicated scholar and leader, Dr. McGehee is also Professor of English and American Studies and has long been a driving force behind Oxford’s academic mission. She was honored with the Emory Exemplary Teaching Award in 2024, recognizing her outstanding contributions to teaching, mentorship, and scholarship.

Prior to her current role, McGehee served as Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Senior Associate Dean for Teaching, Scholarship, & Strategic Initiatives, and Associate Dean for Faculty Development. Across these leadership positions, she has shaped faculty development initiatives, championed scholarly excellence, and fostered inclusive and dynamic learning environments.

Beyond Oxford, McGehee has held influential positions within the broader academic community, including serving as President of the Southern American Studies Association; as an elected member of the boards of both the Society for the Study of Southern Literature and the Southern American Studies Association; and as an elected member of the Regional Chapters Committee of the American Studies Association.

Dr. McGehee’s current book project, Atlanta Fictions: Women Writers’ Urban Imaginaries, explores the representations of Atlanta in modern and contemporary fiction. Her scholarly work has appeared in the edited volumes Queering the South On Screen (ed. Tison Pugh, UGA Press) and Remediating Region (eds. Gina Caison, Stephanie Rountree, and Lisa Hinrichsen, LSU Press), as well as in Southern Cultures, Southern Quarterly, Cinema Journal, Studies in American Culture, Southern Spaces, North Carolina Literary Review, and Gale’s American Writers series.

Her teaching and service have been recognized numerous times: in spring 2015, the Black Student Alliance at Oxford presented her with the Reta Cobb Award; in 2016–17, she received both the Fleming Faculty Service Award and the Phi Eta Sigma Teaching Award. She has twice been awarded the Gregory-Rackley Career Development Grant, and in 2017 received a University Research Committee (URC) grant from Emory.

Dr. McGehee resides in Covington with her husband, Daniel Parson, farmer-educator for Emory’s Organic Farm, and their son, Benjamin.