An associate dean in Georgetown's School of Continuing Studies, Vincent Kiernan directs the Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies program, in which working adults take courses at night and on weekends toward an interdisciplinary college degree.

Kiernan earned a doctorate in philosophy in mass communication from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2002, and an executive master's in leadership from Georgetown's McDonough School of Business in 2011.

His research centers on science and medical journalism, and more particularly on relationships between journalists and the scientific establishment. His 2006 book, Embargoed Science, critically examines news coverage of the latest research published in scientific journals. (See http://insidehighered.com/views/2006/08/21/kiernan for an excerpt.)

Dr. Kiernan has more than 20 years of experience as a working science and medical journalist. Most recently, he worked for nine years as a senior editor and senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education (http://chronicle.com), a weekly trade newspaper and daily Web site in Washington, D.C.