Nine Women Who Will Be Taking on New Administrative Positions in Higher Education

Rachel McBride-Praetorius is the inaugural director of tribal relations at Chico State University in California. For the past 12 years, she has served as executive director of Four Winds of Indian Education in Chico.

A member of the Yurok Tribe, McBride-Praetorius is a graduate of Chico State University.

Emily Watrous was appointed director of the Office of Human Resources and chief human resources officer at Clemson University in South Carolina, effective March 5. She has been serving as chief human resources officer for Southern First Bank.

Watrous is a graduate of Clemson University, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree in human resource development from Webster University.

Darrylinn Todd was named interim associate vice chancellor of student affairs and enrollment services at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. She has been serving as executive administrator in the Office of Academic, Faculty, and Student Affairs and will continue in this role.

A native of Chicago, Dr. Todd holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Northern Colorado. She earned a master’s degree from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, and an MBA and a doctoral degree from Northern Illinois University.

Louise Paskey has had her duties expanded by being vice president for student development and institutional mission at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa. Since 2013, she had been serving as vice president for student development. Earlier, she was dean of students at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Paskey is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Points. She holds a master’s degree in education from Indiana University and is currently at work on a doctorate in educational leadership at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin.

Georgia Luann Carter is the new annual giving director at Mississippi State University. She joined the staff at the university in 2016. Earlier, Carter was a resource manager for Luckie & Company in Birmingham, Alabama.

Carter holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi.

Meshea Poore was appointed vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion at West Virginia University. Poore is president of the West Virginia State Bar and has been practicing law in the state capital in Charleston.

Poore is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she majored in political science. She earned a juris doctorate at the Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Missy Matella was promoted to senor director of employee and labor relations in the Office of Human Resources at the University of Oregon. She has been serving as assistant general counsel at the university. She joined the staff at the university in 2014.

Matella is a graduate of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, where she majored in government. She earned her law degree at the University of Oregon.

Michelle Turek was named principal gifts officer at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. Since 2012, Turek has been vice president for commercial banking at Tompkins Trust Company in Ithaca, New York.

Turek earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural and applied economics from Virginia Tech in 2000.

Sheila Johnson-Willis was appointed associate vice president, chief opportunity officer, and Title IX officer at Syracuse University in New York. She has served in these posts on an interim basis since June 2015. From 2012 to 2015, Johnson-Willis was director of equal opportunity and inclusion at the university.

Johnson-Willis is a graduate of Albion College in Michigan, where she majored in sociology. She earned a juris doctorate at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.

Related Articles

Latest News

Data Shows High Attrition Rates for Women in STEM Degree Programs

For women who began their four-year college career in a STEM discipline, 14 percent dropped out of college and 32 percent switched to a non-STEM major before earning their degree.

Monique Guillory Named Ninth President of Dillard University

Dr. Guillory has served as Dillard University's interim president for the past seven months. Her background includes over three decades of higher education administration experience.

Lynne Coy-Organ Is the First Woman President of Husson University

Lynne Coy-Organ has been named the first woman president of Husson University in Maine. She has served as the university's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs for the past 15 years.

Donna Hedgepath Will Be the First Woman President of Wayland Baptist University

Current provost of Campbellsville University in Kentucky, Donna Hedgepath, has been named president of Wayland Baptist University in Texas, making her the first woman to be selected for the position.

Three Women Scholars Appointed to Provost Positions

The new provosts are Elizabeth Dumont at the University of California, Merced, Marguerite Giguette at Xavier University in New Orleans, and Margaret Brown Marsden at Midwestern State University in Texas.

MOSDOH – Dean of the Missouri School of Dentistry & Oral Health

The dean serves as the chief academic and administrative officer for MOSDOH, leading a mission-driven dental school known for innovation, community partnerships, and service to the underserved.

Vice President for Administrative Services and Chief Financial Officer

The successful candidate will have a strong financial and administrative background and demonstrated ability to excel in a fast-paced, dynamic and complex community college that values integrity, excellence, empowerment, inclusiveness, collaboration and stewardship.

Instructional Professor in Law, Letters, and Society (Open Rank)

The Social Sciences Collegiate Division at the University of Chicago is now accepting applications for a full-time Instructional Professor who will teach in the program in Law, Letters, and Society.

Instructor, Economics

The Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics at the University of Chicago invites applications for tenure-track faculty positions in Economics at the Instructor position level to begin in the 2025-26 academic year and is renewable for up to three years.

Vice Chancellor for Student Success

The Vice Chancellor for Student Success will be a strategic, student-centered, data-informed, systems thinker who thrives in a fast paced, high-achieving environment.