New Administrative Roles in Higher Education for Nine Women

Shrestha Singh was appointed Hindu advisor at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. She also serves as Hindu chaplain at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

Singh is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School.

Chassity Holliman-Douglas was named vice president and vice provost for equity and inclusion at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. She has been serving as director of the Center for Graduate and Professional Diversity Initiatives at the University of Kentucky.

Holliman-Douglas is a graduate of Western Kentucky University. She holds a master’s degree from Murray State University in Kentucky, and an educational doctorate from Eastern Kentucky University.

Whitney Espich was appointed chief executive officer of the Alumni Association at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since 2014, she has been serving as executive director of communications, events, and donor relations for the Office of Resource Development at MIT. Earlier she was senior director of strategic marketing and communications for Harvard University.

A native of Virginia, Espich is a graduate of Indiana University. She holds master’s degrees from the University of Virginia and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Allison Lyng O’Connell was named Title IX coordinator and Cleary Act compliance officer at Dartmouth College. She has served in these roles on an interim basis since April. Before coming to Dartmouth, O’Connell was an assistant district attorney in Boston.

O’Connell is a graduate of Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She earned her law degree at Northwestern University in Illinois.

Melinda Spaulding was appointed vice president for university advancement at Texas Southern University in Houston. For the past 13 years, Spaulding was a reporter and news anchor for KRIV television.

A native of New Jersey, Spaulding is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Grace Buford was named associate chaplain at Davidson College in North Carolina. She will serve the college’s Buddhist community. Previously, she served on the staff at Prescott College in Arizona.

Rev. Buford is a graduate of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. She holds a Ph.D. in history and the literature of religions from Northwestern University.

Deiderie Allard is the new executive director of the department of housing and residence life at Mississippi State University. She was associate director of housing and residence life at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

Allard holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in higher education from Florida State University.

Lea-Ann Morton was named director of corporate and foundation relations at the University of Arkansas. She was assistant vice chancellor for university advancement at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Dr. Morton is a graduate of the College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri. She holds a master’s degree in adult education and a doctorate in educational administration and policy from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Amy Freeman was appointed associate provost and chief diversity officer at Tufts University in Massachusetts. For the past 13 years, she has served as assistant dean of engineering outreach and inclusion at Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. Freeman holds a master’s degree in architectural engineering and a doctorate in workforce education development from Penn State.