Five Women Appointed to High-Level Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Jennifer deHart was named sustainability director at Unity College in Maine. She has been serving as the sustainability coordinator at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. From 2007 to 2011, deHart was program manager in Office for Sustainability at Harvard University.

A graduate of Swarthmore College with a degree in biology, deHart earned a master’s degree in teaching at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and a master’s degree in facilities management from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay.

Kerry Chaplin was named the Rose and Irving Rachlin Director for Jewish Student Life at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She has been serving as the Rabbinic Intern for the Hillel Foundation at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Chaplin holds a bachelor’s degree in religious studies and a master’s degree in nonprofit management from Washington University in St. Louis. She is completing work on a master’s degree in rabbinic studies from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles.

Erica J. Hashimoto was appointed associate dean for clinical programs and experimental learning at the University of Georgia School of Law. Professor Hashimoto joined the faculty at the law school in 2004 and in 2014 was named to the Allen Post Professorship.

Professor Hashimoto is a graduate of Harvard University and the Georgetown University Law Center.

Evelyn Gaiser was named executive director of the School of Environment, Arts, and Society at Florida International University in Miami. She has served in the post on an interim basis since July 2014. Dr. Gaiser will also serve as associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at the university.

Dr. Gaiser, an expert in wetland and aquatic ecology, is a graduate of Kent State University in Ohio. She holds a master’s degree in animal ecology from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Georgia.

Kelli Thomas was appointed associate dean for undergraduate and teacher education programs at the University of Kansas. She is an associate professor in the department of curriculum and instruction. Dr. Thomas joined the faculty at the University of Kansas in 2002.

Dr. Thomas is a graduate of Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg. She earned a master’s degree at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of Kansas.