ROCK ISLAND, ILLINOIS (June 25, 2021) — After conducting a national search, Augustana College has hired Emma Adebayo to lead its admissions department after the departure of long-time director, Karen Dahlstrom.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Emma Adebayo to the Augustana community and look forward to all the innovative, thoughtful, and student-focused passion she will bring to our team.” says W Kent Barnds, executive vice president for external relations.
Adebayo comes to Augustana after most recently serving as the associate director of admissions, inclusion, and access at Washington University in St Louis. In that role, Adebayo focused efforts on historically-underrepresented or under-resourced populations.
She led strategy, planning, and management of recruitment and yield-initiatives, community-based organization partnerships, and efforts to educate on- and off-campus communities on highly-selective college admissions.
“I’m greatly looking forward to meeting the Augustana community and becoming part of the Quad Cities,” says Adebayo. “The college and the admissions team have an established and successful recruitment strategy in place, and I’m excited to join a robust institution with a commitment to serving students and the Quad Cities community.”
Adebayo joins Augustana on the heels of a record-setting recruitment cycle. This fall, the college will move in the largest cohort of international and domestic students of color since its founding in 1860.
Barnds said Adebayo stood out in the pool of candidates because of her deep knowledge of the admissions process and passion for inclusion work. Adebayo serves as a leader in state and national professional organizations, such as the National Association for College Admissions and Counseling (NACAC), and is well-regarded among admissions colleagues.
Adebayo will oversee a team of twelve. Responsible for the recruitment of Augustana students from across the country and around the globe, the admissions team will work closely with students seeking an innovative educational institution.
Before her time at Washington University, Adebayo worked at Lawrence Technological University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Adebayo has a Master’s in Education Administration from University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Bachelor's degree in Sociology from Case Western Reserve University. She’ll begin at Augustana in July.
Known for sparking passionate curiosity, Augustana College is an empowering home to explore over 90 areas of study. Augustana’s innovative program, Augie Choice, transforms students into global citizens, thinkers, and doers with a $2,000 grant to explore the world, complete an internship, or conduct research with a professor. Augustana students achieve a balance inside and outside of the classroom; ranking top ten in all divisions for Academic All Americans. Transformed to be different, current students and alumni include health-care heroes, Nobel Prize-winners, CEOs, college presidents and leaders across all continents. The college enrolls 2,500 curious changemakers who get energized by four years as part of a community that reflects the diversity of the United States.
