LMU Welcomes Michelle X. Dean as Board of Trustees Chair

Michelle X. Dean '84 began her term as chair of the Board of Trustees for Loyola Marymount University on June 1, 2026. As she assumes the leadership role on the university's governing board, she brings deep ties to LMU. Dean earned her accounting degree at the College of Business Administration; her husband, Tim, is a 1982 alumnus , and they are parents of a 2015 graduate. Additionally, Dean served previously on the Board of Regents; she is a founding member of LMU's Alliance of Women Philanthropists, and she has served on the Parent Council. Dean served as vice chair for the Presidential Search Committee in 2024-25. They are longtime season ticket holders for men's basketball.

The Deans are also members of LMU's Centennial Society that honors the university's generous donors, and the LMU Society. Their gifts have been directed to Athletics, including men's basketball and Gersten Pavilion renovations and a scholarship for basketball, LMU 's Accounting Department in the College of Business Administration, and mission-related programs.

Dean began her career in public accounting, working as an auditor for KPMG in Los Angeles with an emphasis on banking clients. After her time in public accounting, she moved to the private sector, where she was responsible for implementing and running the Internal Asset Review system to evaluate the real estate and financial assets of an independent bank. During this period, Dean and her husband had started a family with four children, and they decided she would instead focus on raising their family and serving her community through philanthropy.

Since then, Dean has been an active community leader in Orange County, giving her time to organizations that enrich the lives of families and children through education and supporting basic needs. She has been an active guild member of Rady Children's Health (formerly known as CHOC) for over 30 years, serving in Guild leadership roles, as well as in the National Charity League of Yorba Linda and the alumnae groups of Delta Gamma Fraternity in Orange County. She currently serves on the board and holds leadership positions for The Wooden Floor, a creative youth development organization, and Beyond Blindness. Dean also volunteers her time doing homeless prevention counseling for Families Forward.

Growing up in Orange County, Dean learned about LMU through family members, and it was the only university she applied to. What drew her to the campus are the same qualities that keep her connected today: the commitment to values rooted in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions, and the sense of civic discernment found in all the university's programs.

LMU This Week spoke with Dean in the weeks prior to her beginning her term.

LMU This Week: What do you see as LMU's greatest strengths?
Michelle X. Dean: I believe that LMU's greatest strength is its people. LMU is a community of students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni that has a shared sense of values. When you enter LMU, you will find yourself surrounded by people who support your success and growth in the classroom, in your career, and in your spirituality. You are surrounded by a diverse group of individuals, however there is a common thread that we respect each other and work together to ensure that we can discuss hard topics and solve hard questions in a civil and ethical format. As stated by one of my niece's LMU friends, your education at LMU is enhanced by the Jesuit and Marymount traditions that encourage learning not just to benefit yourself, but to impact others. It is a culture of belonging from the top to the bottom. By ensuring that we preserve, nourish, and protect this important asset, we will enable LMU to continue to be a place of transformative education.

LMUTW: What do you see as LMU's most pressing challenges?
Dean: I see LMU's most pressing challenge as finding a balance between ensuring access to an LMU education to a diverse population in a time of rising tuition costs, while at the same time ensuring adequate resources to provide the full LMU education and student experience. The Board of Trustees understands the important role in working with President Poon to ensure that this difficult balance be achieved by creating a strategic vision and plan that provides the resources necessary to increase scholarship, maintain competitive compensation levels, and provide funds for the capital improvements required on a campus that is almost 100 years old.

In addition, with the onset of artificial intelligence, I believe that a liberal arts education, especially one grounded in Jesuit and Marymount traditions, will be critical in finding ways to innovate with technology while maintaining ethical boundaries and implementation.

LMUTW: As well as you know the campus - student body, faculty, and staff - do you take office with priorities in mind?
Dean: As I take office, LMU will be working on its next Strategic Plan. My role as chair of the Board of Trustees, along with all the trustees, is to help ensure that we develop a plan that supports President Poon's vision and is true to the mission of the university. The exact priorities will be developed over the next 12 months in collaboration with the university.

One of my personal priorities during the start of my tenure is finding ways to increase alumni support. I believe that each of us who were lucky enough to be educated at LMU has an obligation (and hopefully a desire) to ensure that our experience and education can be enjoyed by future generations. I would love to see more alumni re-engage with the university by sharing their time, talent, or treasure. We go through different cycles in our lives, but there is always something we can find to give back.

LMUTW: What are some of the significant moments in LMU's history that you have experienced and that left an impression?
Dean: When I attended LMU, Alumni Mall was where students gathered. The university was in its first 10 years since the merger, and it was a smaller, more intimate campus environment. With the purchase of University Hall and the growth in student population, LMU was able to maintain that feeling of community while expanding the opportunities and number of students who could be served. Hannon Library was completed as I started my service on the Board of Regents, and it served as the perfect point of intersection between the old and the new campus, and elevated the resources available to students in their academic success.

Father Lawton's presidency saw the school complete its first significant capital campaign, which increased scholarship opportunities for students, along with funding capital projects to help create the campus we see today. After Father Lawton, the university had its first lay president in David Burcham. This transition to a lay president meant that the Board of Trustees had to intentionally prioritize mission in their work, to ensure that the Jesuit and Marymount traditions were preserved.

President Timothy Law Snyder spearheaded the largest capital campaign in the history of the school and worked with the Board and faculty to ensure that LMU was no longer the secret on the hill, but instead a university that had impact on both Los Angeles and the world.

Loyola Marymount University is poised to continue the transformative growth that has occurred over the last 40 years, and I look forward to working with President Poon, the Board of Trustees, and the entire university as we continue to move LMU forward as a guiding light in today's world.