{"id":77717,"date":"2026-04-20T12:08:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=77717"},"modified":"2026-04-20T12:08:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T19:08:36","slug":"humans-of-nau-ramona-mellott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/humans-of-nau-ramona-mellott\/","title":{"rendered":"Humans of NAU: Ramona Mellott"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you had to sum up\u00a0<\/span>Ramona Mellott<\/span><\/b>\u00a0in two words, it would be these: teaching and\u00a0cakes. As a child in India, she daydreamed of becoming an educator while baking\u00a0with her mother. As dean of the\u00a0College of Education,\u00a0Mellott\u00a0is known for her compassionate leadership\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span><\/i>\u00a0her delicious cake confections. After 12 years at the helm of the college, Mellott is stepping down\u00a0to resume teaching\u00a0in the Department of\u00a0Educational\u00a0Psychology\u2014but\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0worry,\u00a0she\u2019ll\u00a0never stop bringing dessert to work.\u00a0Read on to find out when Mellott first came to NAU\u00a0and where\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0headed this summer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What first brought you to NAU?<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

I always knew I wanted to teach. As I was finishing my doctoral program in\u00a0counseling\u00a0psychology, I applied for faculty positions across the country. But within a few hours of my interview at NAU, I had a feeling\u2014this was the place. I remember being\u00a0very open\u00a0about that during the visit, so I was especially grateful when I was offered the position as an assistant professor. It just felt right from the start.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ramona<\/a>What\u2019s\u00a0kept you at NAU all these years?<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

Soon after moving to\u00a0Flagstaff\u202f in\u00a0August 1991, Mike and I began\u00a0growing\u00a0our family\u2014our sons Matthew and Mark\u2014and a couple of\u00a0very special\u00a0dogs along the way (Sara, and later Bo who is still with us). We knew Flagstaff would be a wonderful place to raise a family.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What has kept me at NAU, though, is the people and the culture.\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0always felt welcomed and appreciated.\u00a0There\u2019s\u00a0a spirit here that says, \u201cIf you\u2019re willing to put in the work, we\u2019ll support you in doing what\u2019s best for students and programs.\u201d That kind of trust and opportunity is hard to leave. I have had several positions during these last 35 years,\u00a0from faculty to department chair\u00a0to\u00a0graduate\u00a0dean,\u00a0and for the last 12 years,\u00a0College of Education dean.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How has your personal background influenced your work?<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

Education was always important in my family. My parents did not have college degrees, but there was never any doubt that I would go to college\u2014it was simply expected.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I decided in seventh grade that I wanted to teach at the university level. At first, I thought I would major in English, but everything changed when a friend asked me to read for a visually impaired student taking psychology courses. I was instantly drawn in\u2014I\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0even know psychology existed as a field before that.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I also had a dream of studying in the United States, especially since some of my mother\u2019s siblings had settled here. After completing my master\u2019s, I applied to doctoral programs, received an\u00a0assistantship\u00a0and began that journey. Along the way, I taught as many classes as I could and did research to prepare for a faculty career\u2014and I met my husband, Mike. We married halfway through my program.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking back, those early experiences\u00a0shaped everything: my love for teaching and my commitment to helping students find their path.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Ramona<\/a>Tell us about a day in the life of your job as\u00a0dean.<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

No two days are quite the same, which keeps things interesting. A typical day includes answering a lot of emails\u00a0and\u00a0attending many meetings, including\u00a0meetings with\u202fmy direct reports. I spend time reviewing budgets, curriculum plans\u00a0and\u00a0grants, reviewing data (I am\u00a0a big fan\u00a0of Enterprise Reporting), interviewing faculty candidates, attending open forums and\u00a0participating\u00a0in events\u2014everything from welcoming new students to celebrating graduates.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s\u00a0also a significant decision-making\u00a0component\u2014sometimes big-picture strategy, sometimes very practical things like space or staffing. At the heart of it, though, the role of a dean\u00a0is about\u00a0supporting people and creating conditions where students,\u00a0faculty\u00a0and programs can thrive.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even with administrative responsibilities,\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0continued to teach and work with students on graduate research projects. NAU has given me an incredible career,\u00a0a strong sense\u00a0of\u00a0community\u00a0and opportunities beyond anything I could have imagined. My entire professional life has been shaped here, and\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0deeply grateful.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What did you want to be when you grew up?<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

A teacher\u2014always a teacher.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"RamonaWhat\u2019s\u00a0your favorite childhood memory?<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

Some of my favorite memories are from New Year\u2019s Eve celebrations with our neighbors. I grew up in an apartment building with nine families\u00a0and about 19 kids,\u00a0with most of us\u00a0within a 5-year age range. We would celebrate together with food,\u00a0fireworks\u00a0and just a lot of joy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>We also spent long summer evenings playing games with kids<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0from our building and neighboring buildings. Play was such a big part of my childhood\u2014especially those summer nights that seemed to go on forever.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s\u00a0something\u00a0you\u2019ve\u00a0done recently that\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0proud of?<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

I\u2019m most proud of our students, staff, and faculty\u2014and the culture we\u2019ve built within the College of Education. There\u2019s a genuine warmth and care, along with a deep commitment to our students. Our programs are nationally recognized and accredited, but what brings me the greatest pride is seeing where our students go and the impact they have in schools and communities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s\u00a0nothing I can take sole credit for\u2014it truly takes a team. I feel fortunate to be part of a college, and a\u00a0community,\u00a0filled with people who care deeply about what they do.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>What\u2019s\u00a0your favorite way to spend a day off?<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

I love to bake\u00a0and\u00a0cook, something I learned from my mother. A few years ago, I started a tradition of baking cakes for my direct reports, mostly unit leaders and staff,\u00a0on their birthdays\u2014whatever their favorite cake happens to be.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s\u00a0become something people look forward to, and\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0expanded it to other celebrations as well. Most of the baking happens early in the morning so everything is fresh.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a small way to show appreciation and bring people together.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are three things on your bucket list?<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

Becoming a grandmother someday (though\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0not exactly in my control), continuing to travel to new countries\u00a0and rafting the Grand Canyon.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In fact,\u00a0I\u2019ll\u00a0be heading out this summer right after graduation for a 16-day rafting trip (my first). We were lucky enough to win a lottery spot, so\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a non-commercial trip with family and friends\u2014which makes it even more special.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>
\n\"Northern<\/span><\/p>\n


\nJill Kimball | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-2282 | jill.kimball@nau.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you had to sum up\u00a0Ramona Mellott\u00a0in two words, it would be these: teaching and\u00a0cakes. As a child in India, she daydreamed of becoming an educator while baking\u00a0with her mother. As dean of the\u00a0College of Education,\u00a0Mellott\u00a0is known for her compassionate leadership\u00a0and\u00a0her delicious cake confections. After 12 years at the helm of the college, Mellott is…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":77719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1817],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humans-of-nau"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}