Ten Women Who Will Be Taking on New Administrative Roles at Colleges and Universities

Tracey DeBlase Huston, associate vice president for marketing in the Outreach and Online Education division at Pennsylvania State University, was named interim vice president for outreach. Huston has been on the staff at Penn State since 1994.

Earlier in her career, Huston, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees, served as assistant director of public relations and director of sports information at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.

Bea Gonzalez, dean of University College and special assistant to the chancellor at Syracuse University in New York, has been given the added responsibilities of vice president for community engagement. When she takes on this new role in February, Gonzalez will step down as dean of University College.

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.

Anna Gold was named University Librarian at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. She was dean of library services at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. Earlier, she worked for the Library of Congress and the National Science Foundation.

Gold joined the library staff at CalPoly in 2008. She holds a bachelor’s degree in literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a master of library science degree from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Megan Elliott was appointed the founding director of the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Arts Media at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has been serving as manager of leadership and community connections at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia.

Elliott holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Canberra in Australia. She is the co-founder of X Media Lab, a digital media think tank and creative workshop.

Lisa McBride is the new vice president and chief diversity officer at Salem State University in Massachusetts. She was the chief diversity officer at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dr. McBride holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice from Indiana University in Bloomington and a Ph.D. in conflict analysis and resolution from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Christine Rovet was appointed executive director of event and classroom management at the University of Rochester. She was the senior director of administration and guest relations at the Genesee Country Village & Museum.

Rovet is a graduate of the State University of New York at Fredonia, where she majored in English language and literature.

Sylvia Clark Anderson was promoted to chief human resources officer at North Carolina Central University in Durham. She had been serving as director of employee relations and equal employment opportunity at the university. Before joining the staff at North Carolina Central in 2014, Anderson was director of employee relations at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro.

Anderson is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she majored in business administration and economics. She holds a master’s degree in psychological counseling from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.

Maria A. Feeley was named general counsel at the University of Hartford in Connecticut. She was general counsel at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. Earlier, Feeley was a senior consultant for Freeh Group International Solutions, a global risk management company founded by former FBI director Louis Freeh.

Feeley has taught business law and is chair of the board of trustees at her undergraduate alma mater, Rosemont College in Philadelphia. She earned her law degree at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.

Melissa Zak was promoted to assistant vice chancellor of safety at the University of Colorado, Boulder. For the past three years, she has served as chief of police at the university. Earlier, she served in the Los Angeles Police Department for 21 years, rising to the rank of deputy chief.

Zak is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she majored in criminal justice. She holds a master’s degree in conflict negotiation from California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Mary Lou Aleskie was appointed director of the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Since 2005, she has been the director of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven, Connecticut. She also served as a lecturer in theater management at the Yale School of Drama.

From 2002-05 Aleskie served as president and CEO of the La Jolla Music Society in San Diego.