Heidi Hennink-Kaminski

Heidi Hennink-Kaminski, Ph.D. is Dean of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. She is a dynamic, energetic, and compassionate higher education leader with passion for lifelong learning. Adept at strategic planning and working with partners and stakeholders, she has a track record of developing, reinventing and iterating programs and initiatives. She leverages deep experience in researching needs/wants to uncover opportunities and is an expert in building consensus through gathering and presenting evidence, insights and information; inviting and listening to concerns; and connecting people and ideas. She recognizes challenges as opportunities and communicates to secure buy-in in service to an organization’s mission, anticipates and takes initiative, and builds community. 

Hennink-Kaminski has more than a decade of academic administrative experience. Her research focuses on interdisciplinary health communication with an emphasis on the social marketing approach to promote healthy behaviors among individuals and communities. Her research has been funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation. She is a recipient of the David Brinkley Teaching Excellence Award and the Edward Vick Prize for Innovation in Teaching. 

In her previous role as senior associate dean at UNC-Chapel Hill, she led initiatives that advanced academic culture, supported faculty growth and development, and ensured that educational programs were innovative and impactful. She served on various committees within the university, including the Administrative Board of the UNC Graduate School and its Academic Policy Committee as well as the Executive Vice Provost’s Senior Associate and Academic Dean’s Committee. Formerly, she served as interim dean and spent a decade as the associate dean for graduate studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she led new program development and curriculum change across a portfolio of six graduate programs.  

Prior to joining academia, Hennink-Kaminski accumulated 15 years of corporate and agency professional experience including senior marketing communications roles. She is a Michigan native with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, a master’s degree from Western Michigan University, and a doctorate in mass communication from the University of Georgia.