Ten Women Receive Appointments to University Administrative Posts

Maigan Larsen was named special assistant to the director of athletics at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. She was the assistant athletics director for facilities at Wittenburg University in Springfield, Ohio.

Larsen is a graduate of Kent State University, where she majored in psychology and was captain of the volleyball team. She holds a master’s degree in sport and exercise science from Northern Colorado University.

Cristal Thomas was appointed vice president for community health engagement at the University of Chicago School of Medicine and special assistant to the vice president for civic engagement at the University of Chicago. She has been serving as deputy governor of the state of Illinois.

Thomas is a graduate of Ohio State University, where she majored in molecular genetics. She holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago.

Usha Rodrigues is the new associate dean for faculty development at the University of Georgia School of Law. Professor Rodrigues joined the faculty at the law school in 2005 and last year was named the to the M.E. Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law.

Professor Rodrigues is a summa cum laude graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She holds a master’s degree in comparative literature from the University of Wisconsin and a law degree from the University of Virginia, where she was editor-in-chief of the Virginia Law Review.

Wendy Plant was appointed director of student engagement and alumni relations at the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship in the College of Business at Florida State University. She was the program manager for the business incubator at the University of South Florida.

Plant is a graduate of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. She holds an MBA from the University of Tampa.

Tanya Barnes-Jones is the new assistant registrar at Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, North Carolina. She was the associate registrar at Shaw University, also in Raleigh.

Barnes-Jones holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina.

Lisa Calvert was appointed vice chancellor for institutional advancement for the Texas Tech University System in Lubbock. She has been serving as vice president for development at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. She will begin her new job on February 23.

Calvert holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.

Alyson A. Gill was promoted to associate provost for instructional innovation at Arkansas State University. Since 2011, she has served as director of the Center for Digital Initiatives at the university. She has been a member of the art department faculty since 1999.

Dr. Gill is a graduate of Trinity University, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree in art history from the University of California, Irvine and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Memphis.

Becky Degen was named director of continuous improvement at South Dakota State University. She was an executive in lean processes at Daktronics Inc.

Degen is a graduate of South Dakota State University with a bachelor’s degree in English. She holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Kansas.

Meredith Evans was appointed associate librarian at Washington University in St. Louis. In this role, she is the director of the department of special collections. She was the associate university librarian for special collections at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Dr. Evans holds a master’s degree in history from North Carolina State University and a master of library science degree from Clark Atlanta University. She earned a doctorate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Charlene E. Wolf-Hall was named vice provost for academic affairs at North Dakota State University in Fargo. She joined the faculty at the university in 1995 and serves as chair of the department of veterinary and microbiological sciences.

Dr. Wolf-Hall holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from South Dakota State University. She earned a Ph.D. in food science and technology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.