New Administrative Assignments in Higher Education for 11 Women

Amanda Engelhardt was promoted to director of Career Pathways at Ozarka College in Melbourne, Arkansas. She was a career  support services facilitator at the college.

Engelhardt is a graduate of Arkansas State University, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree in college student personnel from Arkansas Tech University.

Valerie Holton, the director of community-engaged research at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, was named the third editor of Metropolitan Universities, the journal of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities. The journal was founded in 1989.

Dr. Holton is a graduate of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master of social work degree and a Ph.D. in social work from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Camille Kluttz-Leach was promoted to vice chancellor and chief of staff at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. Since 2009, she has been serving as the university’s general counsel.

Kluttz-Leach is a graduate of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she majored in sociology and psychology. She earned a law degree at North Carolina Central University in Durham and is currently working on a doctorate in educational leadership at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Karen B. Clarke was appointed senior vice president for strategic communications and external affairs at Kent State University in Ohio, effective January 1. She has been serving as vice president for strategic marketing and communications at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Clarke is a graduate of the University of Florida, where she majored in journalism and Spanish. She is completing work on a master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Houston.

Rachel Vassel is the new assistant vice president of program development in the Division of Advancement and External Affairs at Syracuse University in New York. She has been serving as director of multicultural marketing for the American Cancer Society.

Vassel also serves as an adjunct professor for the Syracuse University online master’s degree program in communications. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and public relations from Syracuse University.

Allison Homer was named an economic development specialist in the Office of Economic Development at Virginia Tech. She was an analyst for the university’s Office of International Research, Education, and Development.

Homer is a graduate of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She holds a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Virginia Tech and is completing work on a second master’s degree in global natural resources at the university.

Karen Kopera-Frye was appointed associate dean in the College of Health and Social Services at New Mexico State University. She was a professor of gereontology at the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

Dr. Kopera-Frye holds a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a Ph.D., all from Wayne State University in Detroit.

Sarah Ramsey is the new director of the Executive Education Center at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. She was an executive at the United Way of Central Iowa.

Earlier in her career, Ramsey served as administrative director for the Center for American Politics and Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles and as a research assistant for the Education Development Center in Boston.

Christina Smith was promoted to director of development and external relations for the College of Social Sciences and Communication at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She was an adjunct instructor and assistant to the dean of the college.

Smith is a graduate of the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma and holds a master of public administration degree from the University of Oklahoma.

Louise Nelson was appointed vice chancellor of legal affairs and associate general counsel at the University of California, Los Angeles. Since 2009, she has been senior vice president and assistant general counsel for Hilton Worldwide Inc.

Nelson is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine, where she majored in history. She earned her law degree at Harvard Law School.

Kate Trimble is the new director of the Priscilla King Gray Public Service Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was deputy director of the Swearer Center for Public Service at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Trimble is a graduate of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, where she majored in philosophy. She earned her law degree at Georgetown University.