Sixteen Women Appointed to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Sara Xayarath Hernandez was promoted to associate dean for inclusion and student engagement for the Graduate School at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Since 2009, she has served as director of diversity programs in engineering at the university.

Hernandez is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, where she majored in zoology. She holds a master’s degree in city and regional planning from Cornell University.

Suzanne B. Goldberg was appointed the inaugural executive vice president for university life at Columbia University in New York City. She is the Herbert and Doris Wechsler Clinical Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. Professor Goldberg joined the Columbia University faculty in 2006.

Professor Goldberg is a magna cum laude graduate of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She earned her juris doctorate at Harvard Law School.

Gail E. Gasparich was named acting assistant provost at Towson University in Maryland. She is a professor of biological sciences and associate dean for the College of Science and Mathematics at the university. She joined the Towson University faculty in 1996.

Professor Gasparich is a graduate of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She holds a Ph.D. in microbiology and molecular biology from Pennsylvania State University.

Elizabeth Keefer, general counsel at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, has taken on additional duties as senior vice president for administration. Before joining the staff at Case Western Reserve, she was general counsel at Columbia University for more than a decade. She is a former deputy under secretary of the U.S. Air Force.

Keefer is a graduate of Barnard College in New York City, where she majored in political science. She earned her law degree at George Washington University in our nation’s capital.

Michele Jackson is the inaugural associate provost for e-learning initiatives at the College of William and Mary. She was an associate professor of communication at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She joined the faculty at the University of Colorado in 1998.

Dr. Jackson is a graduate of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in speech communication and organizational communication from the University of Minnesota.

Yvette Gullatt was named the inaugural vice provost for diversity and engagement at the University of California, Berkeley. She was serving as vice provost for educational partnerships at the university.

Dr. Gullatt has been on the staff at the university for 25 years. She holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, all from the University of California, Berkeley.

Risa E. Dickson was appointed vice president for academic affairs at the University of Hawaii System. She has been serving as a professor of communication studies at California State University, San Bernardino.

Dr. Dickson is a graduate of California State University, Northridge, where she majored in communication theory. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in interpersonal and organizational communication from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Marilyn Sheerer was named interim provost at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. From 2007 to 2014, Dr. Sheerer was provost at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.

Dr. Sheerer is a graduate of Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania. She holds a Ph.D. from Ohio State University.

Whitney Battle-Baptiste was named director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Center at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst Libraries. She is an associate professor of anthropology at the university. Dr. Battle-Baptiste joined the faculty at the University of Massachusetts in 2007. She is the author of Black Feminist Archaeology (Left Coast Press, 2011).

Dr. Battle-Baptiste is a graduate of Virginia State University. She holds a master’s degree in history from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Texas.

Judith Cone was appointed interim vice chancellor of commercialization and economic development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has been serving as special assistant to the president and interim director of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the university.

Cone joined the staff at the university in 2009. Previously, she was vice president of emerging strategies and entrepreneurship at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Debra Sparacino is the new registrar at Clemson University in South Carolina. She has worked at the registrar’s office at the university for 30 years and has been interim registrar since April 2014.

“As registrar, I will collaborate with my staff and with other stakeholders on campus to deliver academic policies, services and technology that meet the evolving needs of our campus and that are consistent with the academic goals and mission of Clemson University,” said Sparacino.

Whitney L. Hough was appointed assistant director of the Office of Technology Transfer at the University of Alabama. She has been serving as a venture development associate in the Office of Technology Transfer.

Dr. Hough holds a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, an MBA, and a Ph.D. in chemistry, all from the University of Alabama.

Meredith Sherlin was named interim director of the Office of Admission at North Dakota State University in Fargo. For the past 12 years, she has been associate director of admissions at the university.

Sherlin holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in mass communication from North Dakota State University.

Bea Gonzalez was named special assistant to the chancellor at Syracuse University in New York. She has been serving as dean of University College at Syracuse. Previously, she was senior vice president and dean of students at the university.

Gonzalez is a graduate of Binghamton University of the State University of New York System. She holds a master of public administration degree from Syracuse University.

Naisha Bradley was named director of the Women’s Center at Harvard University. She was the program manager for the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Bradley is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University. She holds a master’s degree from Simmons College in Boston.

Carrie Parker was appointed director of the International Center for Performance Excellence in the College of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences at West Virginia University. She was director of U.S. publishing operations for Aptara Corporation.

Parker holds a bachelor’s degree in graphic arts from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.