Ten Women Named to New Administrative Positions

Barbara Allen-Diaz was name vice president for agriculture and natural resources for the University of California system. Her three-year appointment is effective on October 1. She is the first woman to hold the position. Dr. Allen-Diaz holds the Russell Rustici Chair in Rangeland Management in the College of Natural Resources at the University of California at Berkeley.

Professor Allen-Diaz holds bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Berkeley.

Chrystal Houston was appointed director of alumni and communication at York College in Nebraska. She was digital marketing coordinator for BryanLGH Health System in Lincoln, Nebraska. She previously worked as a writer and editor for Texas A&M University.

Houston is a 2003 graduate of York College.

Joanne Altman was named director of undergraduate research and creative works at High Point University in North Carolina. She previously was on the faculty at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.

Dr. Altman is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in psychology from Temple University.

Lorraine Davis was named to a one-year term as acting provost at the University of Oregon. She will fill in for provost James Bean, who is taking a sabbatical after suffering a pulmonary embolism. Davis previously was vice president of academic affairs and has been serving part-time as a special assistant to the president. She first joined the university’s faculty in 1972.

Dr. Davis holds bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. She holds a doctorate in health education from the University of Oregon.

Rebecca Sender was appointed deputy director for finance and administration at the Yale Center for British Art. She was the associate director of the Princeton University Art Museum.

A graduate of Wesleyan University, Sender holds a master’s degree in art history from Columbia University and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Karen E. Kerr was named senior director of new ventures and alliances at the Stevens Institute for Innovation at the University of Southern California. She was director of business development and targeted acquisitions for Intellectual Ventures Invention Development Fund.

A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Dr. Kerr holds a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Chicago.

Jessica Adkins was named grants and contracts officer at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. She was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Mississippi.

Dr. Adkins is a graduate of Clemson University and holds a doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Mississippi.

Frances Draper was promoted to vice chancellor for strategic relations at the University of Colorado at Boulder, effective October 1. She has been serving as associate vice chancellor for strategic relations. Previously, she was executive director of the Boulder Economic Council.

Draper is a graduate of Stanford University and holds an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley.

Francene L. Botts-Butler was named director of the Office of Equity/Diversity at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. She was the director of multicultural student services at Morehead State University in Kentucky.

Botts-Butler is a graduate of Kentucky State University and the University of Kentucky School of Law. She also holds a master’s degree from Bowling Green State University.

Valerie Miller is the new director of student financial aid and scholarships at Ohio University in Athens. She has been with the university’s financial aid office since 1996.

She has served as interim director of financial aid since July.