A Host of New Appointments of Women to Top Posts in Higher Education

Barbara Landau was named vice provost for faculty affairs at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She has been serving as the Dick and Lydia Todd Professor and chair of the department of cognitive science at the university.

Dr. Landau holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. She earned a master’s degree from Rutgers University.

Johnette McCrery was appointed interim vice chancellor of university development at Louisiana State University, Shreveport. She was the publisher of SB Magazine.

Dr. McCrery is a graduate of the University of Texas. She holds a master’s degree from Louisiana State University, Shreveport and a Ph.D. in mass communications from the University of Maryland.

Virginia Rentko was named medical director of the Foster Hospital for Small Animals and the Hospital for Large Animals at the Grafton campus of Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Rentko is a graduate of Boston University. She holds a master’s degree in zoology from Ohio State University and a doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Pennsylvania.

Sonya Malunda was promoted to senior associate vice president for community engagement at the University of Chicago. She has served as an administrator at the university since 1998.

Jennifer Frum was appointed interim vice president for public service and outreach at the University of Georgia. She has been serving as interim director of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the university.

Dr. Frum is a graduate of West Virginia University. She holds a master’s degree in international relations from George Washington University and a doctorate from the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia.

Ro Di Brezzo, University Professor of kinesiology and director of the Human Performance Lab in the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas, was named interim vice provost for academic affairs at the university. She will continue to teach in addition to her new administrative duties. She previously taught at Central Michigan University and Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

Dr. Di Brezzo is a graduate of Brooklyn College. She holds a master’s degree from Indiana University and a doctorate from Texas Woman’s University.

Asya Besova Cooley is the new assistant director of annual giving at the Mississippi State University Foundation. She was a research associate at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

Cooley, a native of Russia, is a graduate of Alcorn State University in Mississippi. She earned a master’s degree in mass communication from Louisiana State University.

Jana Doggett was promoted to executive associate athletics director at Utah State University. For the past five years, she has served as senior associate athletics director for external operations at Utah State.

Doggett is a graduate of San Diego State University.

Tomalei Vess was appointed director of the newly created Office of Undergraduate Research at Virginia Tech. She was associate director for education, training, and academic development at the Institute for Genome Sciences and policy at Duke University.

Dr. Vess is a graduate of James Madison University and holds a Ph.D. in biology from Duke University.