Eight Women Taking on New Administrative Positions in Higher Education

Irma Becerra-Fernandez was appointed vice president for engagement at Florida International University in Miami. She has served in the post on an interim basis since May 2012.

Dr. Becerra-Fernandez is a native of Cuba. She was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. from the College of Engineering at Florida International University and joined the faculty at the university in 1994.

Makaela Kingsley was named director of the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship on the campus of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. She has been interim director for the past two months. She has been on the staff at the university since 2000.

Kingsley graduated from Wesleyan in 1998 with a degree in neuroscience.

Geneva Henry was named university librarian and vice provost for libraries at George Washington University in the nation’s capital. She has been serving as executive director of digital scholarship services at Rice University in Houston and will begin her new job on July 1.

Henry holds bachelor’s degrees from the University of California at Santa Barbara and California State University in Los Angeles. She earned a master’s degree in political science at the University of Washington.

Debra F. Fickler was promoted to vice president and general counsel at Villanova University in suburban Philadelphia. She was deputy general counsel. Previously, she served as an attorney for Saint Joseph’s University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Fickler earned a bachelor’s degree and an MBA at Temple University. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Lisa M. McBride is the inaugural chief diversity officer at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She was the special assistant to the president for equity and diversity at California University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. McBride holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana State University in Terre Haute. She earned a Ph.D. in conflict analysis and resolution from Nova Southeastern University.

Diane Paukstelis was appointed project coordinator for the University Engineering Alliance at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. The alliance is a group of 11 educational institutions that provide distance learning programs in nuclear engineering. She was the executive director of the United Way of Riley County, Kansas.

Paukstelis is a graduate of Kansas State University.

Melissa C. Wargo was promoted to chief of staff for the chancellor of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. She was serving as assistant vice chancellor for planning and effectiveness at the university. Dr. Wargo joined the staff at the university in 2006. Previously, she was director of assessment at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

Dr. Wargo holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in anthropology and a Ph.D. in history, all from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Barbara Jones was named vice president for student affairs at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. She has been serving as president of the division of student affairs at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She is the former assistant chancellor for student affairs at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater.

Dr. Jones holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana University and a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Minnesota.