Sixteen Women in New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Wanda S. Mitchell was appointed the founding vice president for diversity and equity at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Her appointment is effective September 1. She has been serving as the chief diversity officer for the University of New Hampshire and has been on the faculty there since 2002. She previously taught at Hampton University in Virginia.

Dr. Mitchell is a graduate of Georgia Southern University. She holds a master’s degree in counseling from Hampton University and an educational doctorate from the College of William and Mary.

Margaret Ferguson was named assistant vice president for statewide academic relations at Indiana University. She has been serving as associate professor and chair of the department of political science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. She has been on the faculty there since 1996.

Dr. Ferguson is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Sharon T. Stoddard was named registrar at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. She was registrar and adjunct professor for the Asia campus of the University of Maryland in Tokyo.

Dr. Stoddard is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University. She holds a master’s degree in government from Regent University, an MBA from Southeastern University, and a Ph.D. in public policy and public administration from Walden University.

Deborah F. Dent was appointed interim vice president of information management at Jackson State University in Mississippi. She has spent the past 30 years with the Army Corps of Engineers, most recently as deputy director of the Information Technology Library at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Dr. Dent holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in scientific computing from the University of Southern Mississippi. She also holds a master’s degree in computer science from Jackson State University.

Helayne Spivak was named director of the marketing communications and advertising graduate program at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has been serving as the chief creative officer for Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness. Previously, she has worked in the creative departments at Young & Rubicam, JWT, and Lintas agencies.

Spivak also has experience as a restaurant owner and a stand-up comedian.

Jacqueline Lee Mok was named vice president, chief of staff, and secretary to the board of trustees of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Dr. Mok has been serving as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Arizona. Dr. Mok joined the staff at the University of Arizona in 1997 as assistant dean of the College of Fine Arts.

Dr. Mok is a graduate of Middlebury College. She holds a master’s degree in music education from the University of North Texas and a doctorate in arts education from New York University.

Iris M. Reyes had been named associate dean for student community outreach at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is an associate professor of clinical emergency medicine at the school.

Dr. Reyes is a graduate of Manhattan College. She earned her medical degree at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

Kelli Armstrong was promoted to vice president for planning and assessment at Boston College. She was associate vice president for institutional research, planning, and assessment. Previously, she worked in institutional research and enrollment management at Bates College, Tufts University, and the University of Massachusetts.

A graduate of Bates College, Dr. Armstrong earned a master’s degree in English from the University of Virginia, and a doctorate in higher education administration from Boston College.

Kimberly Hilliard was promoted to the position of executive director of community engagement at Jackson State University in Mississippi. Since 2010, she has been serving as director of the Center for University-Based Development at Jackson State.

Dr. Hilliard is a graduate of Tuskegee University in Alabama. She earned a master’s degree at the University of New Orleans and a Ph.D. in urban and regional planning at Jackson State.

Sally McRorie will be the inaugural vice president for faculty development and advancement at Florida State University. Her appointment is effective on July 30. She has been serving as dean of the College of Visual Arts, Theatre, and Dance.

Dr. McRorie came to Florida State in 1994 and was named dean in 2002. Previously, she chaired the department of art and design at Purdue University. She holds a doctorate in art education from the University of Kansas.

Jennifer Kirksey was named chief of staff and special assistant to the president of Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She has been on the staff of the president’s office for the past seven years, most recently serving as the strategic communication adviser and developer.

Kirksey is a graduate of Ohio University.

Carolyn Walters was promoted to the newly created position of executive director of the Office of Scholarly Publishing at Indiana University in Bloomington. She has been serving as executive associate dean of the Indiana University libraries.

Walters is a graduate of Miami University. She holds a master of library science degree from Indiana University.

Tijuana R. Hudson was promoted to vice president for fiscal affairs at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Since 2010 she has been associate vice president for fiscal affairs at Claflin. Previously, she held financial affairs positions at Wilberforce University in Ohio and LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis.

A certified public accountant, Hudson is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro.

Andrea Stewart was appointed interim university librarian at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She has been serving as deputy university librarian.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in education and human development from George Washington University.

Sheilah D. Vance was named chief of staff for the president of Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. She has been an adjunct professor at the Villanova University School of Law.  She is the former assistant dean for academic support at the law school.

Vance is a magna cum laude graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C. She earned her law degree at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington.

Canan Bilen-Green is the new vice provost for advancement of faculty at North Dakota State University. She serves as a professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering at the university. She has been on the university’s faculty since 1994.

Professor Bilen-Green holds a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Wyoming.