Eight Women Named to New Administrative Posts

Julie Friend was named associate director for international safety and security in the Study Abroad Office of Northwestern University. She held a similar position at Michigan State University.

Friend is a graduate of Syracuse University. She holds a master’s degree in English and a law degree from Michigan State University.

Rhonda Harris is the new chief of police at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Since 2006 she has been the chief of university police at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Harris hold a bachelor’s degree and master of public administration degree from Rutgers and a second master’s degree in forensic psychology from John Jay College.

Maria Baxter-Nuamah was appointed director of advancement relations at Minnesota State University in Mankato. She has been serving as director of African American affairs in the office of institutional diversity at the university. In her new position, Baxter-Nuamah will direct outreach efforts to alumni who have not participated in recent development efforts and she will develop strategies for working with alumni of color and international alumni.

Michelle Rodgers was named associate dean for extension and outreach in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and director of Cooperative Extension at the University of Delaware. The appointment is effective April 2. Dr. Rodgers is currently the director of Michigan State University Extension. Before going to Michigan State in 2007, she was on the extension staff at Pennsylvania State University for 27 years.

A graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Rodgers holds a master’s degree in rural sociology and a doctorate in agricultural education from Penn State.

Donna S. Martsoff is the new associate dean of research and translation at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing. From 1993 to 2011, she served on the nursing faculty at Kent State University.

Dr. Martsoff holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

Mitra Dutta was named interim vice chancellor for research at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a distinguished professor and chair of the department of electrical and computer engineering at the university. She has been on the UIC faculty since 2001 and previously was a senior executive at the U.S. Army Research Office.

Dr. Dutta is a graduate of Gauhati University in India. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Delhi and a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Cincinnati.

Mary Ann Mavrinac was appointed vice provost and the Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of River Campus Libraries at the University of Rochester. She was chief librarian at the Mississauga campus of the University of Toronto.

Dr. Mavrinac is a graduate of the University of Toronto. She holds a master’s degree in library science from the University of Western Ontario and a doctorate from Fielding Graduate University.

Katherine Durben was promoted to executive director of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at Marquette University. She joined the office in 1996 and has served since 2000 as director of project planning and development.

Durben is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and holds a master of social work degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.