Michelle Morgan, a graduate student in the American Studies department, will serve as the interim dean of Ezra Stiles, Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway announced in a Tuesday email to fellows and students of the college.

Morgan will temporarily take over the position left by current dean Camille Lizarríbar. Lizarríbar will leave the deanship at the end of this month to take up her new role as Dean of Student Affairs in Yale College. Holloway said he recently appointed Morgan in consultation with Ezra Stiles master Stephen Pitti, and expressed confidence in the appointment.

“I am confident that Ms. Morgan will make significant and positive contributions to the life of the college,” Holloway said in the email.

Morgan, who earned her Master’s degrees in American Studies from both the University of Southern Maine and from Yale, has served as a teaching fellow for several American Studies courses and as an instructor of junior seminars in the same program. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate and her dissertation is entitled “Material Possessions: Producing Race and Empire in the U.S., 1820-1917.” Her poetry has also been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize.

Outside of academics, Morgan is a self-described music fanatic, who has a background in dance, art and writing, according to the email. She will move into the dean’s suite in the coming month with her partner, son and cat.

In the same email, Holloway informed the college’s students that he has appointed a committee of Ezra Stiles fellows and students, chaired by Pitti, to conduct a search this spring for a new dean who will permanently take on the role before the start of the next academic year.