A Dozen Women With New Administrative Duties in Higher Education

Deidra Hill was appointed vice president for communication and marketing at the college. She was director of marketing and creative services at Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland. She had been on the staff at PGCC since 2001 and previously was director of communication for Goucher College in Baltimore.

Dr. Hill is a graduate of South Carolina State University in Orangeburg. She holds a master’s degree in journalism and public affairs from American University in Washington, D.C., and a doctorate in higher education administration from Morgan State University in Baltimore.

Cynthia Gravino is the new associate vice president for collaborative enterprises at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. She was the director of the Office of Career Services at the Columbus College of Art & Design in Ohio.

Gravino is a graduate of Ohio State University and holds an MBA from the University of Toledo.

Paquita Davis-Friday was named executive director of graduate programs at the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College of the City University of New York. She has been serving as an associate professor of accountancy at the college.

Dr. Davis-Friday holds a bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees, and a Ph.D. in business administration, all from the University of Michigan.

Patty Born Selly was named director of the National Center for STEM Elementary Education at the School of Business and Professional Studies of St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is a consultant and author and has taught at Hamline University and Metropolitan State University, both in St. Paul. She is the author of Early Childhood Activities for a Greener Earth (Redleaf Press, 2012).

Selly is a graduate of Metropolitan State University and holds a master’s degree from Hamline University.

April R. Rhinehardt was named university chaplain at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. She was clinical staff chaplain at High Point Regional Health in High Point, North Carolina.

Rhinehardt is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She holds a master’s degree in counseling from North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro and a master of divinity degree from Shaw University.

Susannah Bielak was appointed associate director of engagement and curator of public practice at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She was associate director of public and interpretive programs at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

Bielak earned a master of fine arts degree from the University of California San Diego.

Cindy Gnadinger has appointed vice president for academic affairs at William Peace University in Raleigh, North Carolina. She was assistant vice president for academic affairs and dean of the School of Education at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky.

Dr. Gnadinger is a graduate of Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green and holds a master’s degree and a doctorate from the University of Louisville.

Nicole G. Price was named chief diversity and inclusion officer at Suffolk University in Boston. She has been serving as director of diversity, inclusion, and affinity relations for Suffolk University Law School.

Price is a graduate of the University of Virginia, where she majored in rhetoric and communications. She earned a juris doctorate at the College of William and Mary School of Law.

Rita Echeverria was named director of finance and accounting at WUCF-TV, the public television station licensed to the University of Central Florida. For the past two years, she was assistant director of finance and accounting for the university’s College of Medicine-Regional Extension Center.

Echeverria holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce and accounting from Assumption College in the Philippines.

Christina L. Valentino was appointed vice president for administration and finance at the University of Rhode Island. She was a special assistant to the chancellor at the University of California at Santa Cruz. She has been an administrator at UCSC for 20 years.

Valentino is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles.

Molly Des Jardin was named Japanese studies librarian at the University of Pennsylvania Library. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard University.

Dr. Des Jardin is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. She holds two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. in Asian languages and cultures from the University of Michigan.

Carol Parker is the new associate provost for academic personnel at the University of New Mexico. She is a professor of law at the university’s School of Law.

Professor Parker is a graduate of Michigan State University and the Wayne State University School of Law. She also holds a master’s degree in information science from the University of Michigan.