Vivia Fowler is the Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. She received the B.A. in Religion and Sociology from Columbia College, the M.A. in Religion from the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, and the Ph.D. in Philosophical and Psychological Foundations of Education from the University of South Carolina. An ordained minister in The United Methodist Church, Vivia served churches in S.C. for ten years before joining the faculty of Columbia College where she held teaching and administrative roles from 1986 to 2007.  She became dean of Wesleyan College in June, 2007.  

As academic dean, Vivia's duties include overseeing all academic areas of the college including the faculty, academic programs and curricula, library, registrar, academic center, and faculty development center.  Previous honors include Columbia College Omicron Delta Kappa Professor of the Year (1995), Columbia College Outstanding Professor (1996), S.C. Governor's Distinguished Professor Award (1997), The United Methodist Church's Francis Asbury Award for Fostering United Methodist Ministries in Higher Education (2002), and the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience's Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate Award (2003). She led Columbia College's Foundations of Excellence in the First Year of College initiative in 2002-2005 and the college's participation in the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education (2005-2007).