New High-Level Administrative Posts in Higher Education for 14 Women

Kristen Archbold was named associate dean for nursing research at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. She was a research professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Archbold earned a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in nursing from the University of Michigan.

Jacqueline Hightower was named executive assistant to Elmira Mangum, president of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. Since 2011, she has been serving as executive assistant to the Tallahassee City Manager.

Hightower is a graduate of Florida A&M University, where she majored in computer information systems. She holds a master’s degree in higher education administration from Florida State University.

Joni Westerhouse was promoted to associate vice chancellor and associate dean for medical public affairs at Washington University in St. Louis. She had been serving as assistant vice chancellor for medical public affairs. She joined the staff at the School of Medicine in 1987.

Westerhouse is a graduate of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, where she majored in journalism.

Julie Lucas was appointed vice president for resource development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has been serving as associate senior vice president at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Previously, she held development posts at New York University and Fordham University.

Lucas is a graduate of McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. She holds a master’s degree in educational administration from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

Susan Sterett was named associate director of research for the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. She will also serve as director of the Metropolitan Institute. She was the program officer for law and social sciences at the National Science Foundation. Dr. Sterett is the author of Public Pensions: Gender and Civic Service in the States, 1850-1937 (Cornell University Press, 2003) and Creating Constitutionalism? Legal Accountability and the Administrative State in England and Wales (University of Michigan Press, 1997).

Dr. Sterett is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Diane Lipscombe, professor of neuroscience at Brown University, was appointed interim director of the Brown Institute for Brain Science. She will serve for the remainder of the current academic year. Professor Lipscombe has served on the Brown University faculty since 1990.

Dr. Lipscombe earned a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in pharmacology from University College, London.

Jilma Meneses was named chief operating officer of the Portland, Oregon, campus of Concordia University. Since 2010, she has served as the chief diversity officer at Portland State University.

Meneses is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland.

Cheryl Evans Jones was appointed acting provost and vice president of academic affairs at Paine College in Augusta, Georgia. Since 2009, she has been executive assistant to the president of the college. Dr. Evans Jones joined the faculty at Paine College in 1993 as an assistant professor of psychology.

Dr. Evans Jones is a graduate of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in clinical child/developmental psychology from Ohio State University.

Laura Howard is the new director of the Public Management Center at the University of Kansas. She was a regional administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Sciences Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Howard is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she majored in public administration. She earned a law degree at the University of Kansas.

Elizabeth Worth was promoted to student recruitment manager at North Dakota State University in Fargo. She was the assistant director of admissions at the university.

Worth holds a bachelor’s degree in music and a master’s degree in counseling from North Dakota State University.

Patrice Noel was appointed director of transfer relations at the University of Wyoming. She joined the staff at the university in 2011 as coordinator of success and transitions. Previously, she held several administrative posts at Clemson University in South Carolina.

Dr. Noel is a graduate of Augustana College in Illinois, where she majored in biology and psychology. She holds a master’s degree from Iowa State University and a doctorate in educational leadership from Azusa Pacific University in California.

Nancy E. Schoenberg was named associate dean for research in the School of Public Health at the University of Kentucky. She also serves as the Marion Pearsall Professor in the department of behavioral science at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.

Dr. Schoenberg is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She earned a master’s degree at the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in medical anthropology at the University of Florida.

Stacy Downing is the new vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at Delaware State University in Dover. Since 2013, she has been serving as associate vice president for student affairs. Previously, she held student affairs posts at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas, and the University of Cincinnati.

Dr. Downing is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree from Xavier University in Ohio and a doctorate in urban educational leadership from the University of Cincinnati.

Charlotte Davidson was promoted to special assistant to the president at South Dakota State University in Brookings. She had been serving as director of the American Indian Education and Cultural Center at the university.

Dr. Davidson is a graduate of Haskell Indian Nations University. She holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in educational policy students from the University of Illinois.