From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdeandean /diːn/ noun [countable] 1 RRCRRCa priest of high rank in the Christian church who is in charge of several priests or churches2 SECsomeone in a university who is responsible for a particular area of work the admissions dean3 American English someone with a lot of experience of a particular job or subject SYN doyen British Englishdean of Neier is the dean of American human rights activism.
Examples from the Corpus
dean• A month later, he was forced to step down as dean of the dental department at the college.• He was a fellow of the University of Bombay, and was elected dean of the faculty of engineering in 1879.• The only heaters to be found were in the teachers' lounge and individual offices of deans and ranking officials.• In his letter to the student the dean included his home telephone number.• Donahue was the dean of TV talk show hosts.• I must follow up problem students with the deans or the guidance counselors.• The dean himself was incredible in guiding me through some hard times.Origin dean (1300-1400) Old French deien, from Late Latin decanus “person in charge of ten others”, from Latin decem “ten” 