GWU admissions dean to retire following data misreporting to U.S. News George Washington University announced Wednesday that its dean of admissions is retiring, one month after the school disclosed that for several years it had inflated a key measure of the academic strength of incoming freshmen. A statement from GWU indicated that Kathryn Napper, who also holds the title of associate vice president, would retire effective at the end of December after working at the university for 35 years. There was no mention in the statement of the misreporting of admissions data that led U.S. News and World Report to demote GWU this year in its ranking of top national universities. GWU had been ranked 51st on the U.S. News list before the disclosure that it had submitted incorrect data about the share of incoming students who ranked in the top 10 percent of their class in high school. Originally, the school said that 78 percent of incoming students were at that level. It corrected that figure Nov. 8, to 58 percent. Now, as a result, GWU is unranked by U.S. News. School officials call the misreporting of data an error that traces to a flawed methodology the school used for more than a decade. Napper has been dean of admissions since 1997. Forrest Maltzman, senior vice provost for academic affairs and planning, praised Napper in the statement released Wednesday. "During her time as dean, the university has seen a significant increase in undergraduate applications from both domestic and international markets and has consistently brought in students who are gifted, academically talented, and committed to service," Maltzman wrote. The students who enrolled at the university under her leadership have made GW a stronger and better institution. On behalf of the university and its leadership, we thank Kathy for her long and admirable service to the institution and wish her the best.