Seven Women in Higher Education Who Are Stepping Down From Their Posts

Debra Daniels has resigned her position as president of Joliet Junior College in Illinois, a position she has held since March 2012. Dr. Daniels said she was leaving effective immediately for personal reasons. Before becoming president of Joliet Junior College, she was  president of San Bernardino Valley College in California.

Dr. Daniels holds a bachelor’s degree in allied health education from Ferris State University in Michigan. She earned a master’s degree in vocational and technical education and a doctorate in education, both from the University of Illinois.

Lucile C. Jones, a research associate at the Seismological Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology, announced that she is retiring from her post as science advisor for risk reduction at the U.S. Geological Survey. Dr. Jones, considered a leading expert in earthquake safety, has been with the USGS for 33 years. She will continue to work at CalTech.

Dr. Jones is a magna cum laude graduate of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She holds a Ph.D. in geophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Karen E. Campbell, senior associate dean for undergraduate education in the College of Arts & Science at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, announced that she will retire on August 15. She is also an associate professor of sociology at the university.

Dr. Campbell is a magna cum laude graduate of what is now Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Virginia Caples who has served in numerous capacities at Alabama A&M University over the past 38 years, retired on March 31. She has served as interim president, provost and vice president for academic affairs, associate dean, distinguished university professor, and 1890 administrator.

Dr. Caples is a graduate of Alcorn State University in Mississippi. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Iowa State University.

Janet Corson-Rikert, associate vice president for campus health at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, has retired from her post. She joined the staff of the university’s health services in 1992 as a staff physician.

Dr. Corson-Rikert is a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Medical School.

Fay S. Adams, an associate professor of piano at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, has announced that she will retire at the end of the academic year. She will continue to teach as a private piano instructor.

Adams is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and holds a master’s degree in piano performance from the University of Tennessee.

Catherine M. O’Neill, executive director of the Taos campus of the University of New Mexico, has announced that she will step down from her administrative post at the end of the academic year. She has led the Taos campus for the past decade. She will take a one-year sabbatical and return to her faculty position at the university.

Dr. O’Neill is a graduate of Tufts University in Massachusetts, where she majored in art history. She holds master’s and doctoral degree in education from Harvard University.