A Dozen Women Who Have Been Appointed to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar will serve as chief of staff to the president of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, beginning August 1. She has been serving as vice president for public affairs and university relations at Dominican University of California in San Rafael.

Dr. Rodriguez-Farrar holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in the history of art and architecture from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She also holds an educational doctorate from Harvard University.

Erika McKinley is the new general counsel at the University of Mississippi. She is the former chief operating officer for the National Basketball Players Association. Earlier, McKinley served as associate general counsel for Wal-Mart.

McKinley holds a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from the University of Mississippi.

LaTanya Afolayan was appointed vice chancellor for university advancement at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. She has been serving as senior director of planning and major giving at Norfolk State University in Virginia. Earlier, she was vice chancellor of advancement at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina and North Carolina Central University in Durham.

Dr. Afolayan is a graduate of Indiana State University. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Missouri and an educational doctorate from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.

Brandi Breslin is the new museum educator at the Palmer Museum of Art at Pennsylvania State University. Previously, she served on the staff at the Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida.

Breslin is a graduate of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. She holds a master’s degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Christine Harper was appointed associate provost for enrollment management at the University of Kentucky. From 2011 to 2017, Harper was assistant dean of academic and student affairs for the College of Dentistry at the university. Earlier, she was senior assistant director of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and First-Year Experience at Ohio State University.

Harper holds a bachelor of fine arts degree and a master’s degree in college student counseling from the University of Dayton in Ohio. She is currently studying for an educational doctorate at the University of Kentucky.

Sheraine Gilliam-Holmes was named executive director and chief human resources officer at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. She has been serving as director of human resources systems and operations for the City University of New York.

Gilliam-Holmes is a graduate of Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, where she majored in international business. She earned an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

Beth Goetz was appointed director of athletics at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.  Since 2016, she has been serving as the chief operating officer for athletics at the University of Connecticut. Earlier she held athletics administrator posts at the University of Minnesota, Butler University, and University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Goetz is a graduate of Clemson University in South Carolina. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Kelly Charles is the new director of institutional effectiveness at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She was director of program evaluation and accreditation at Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Dr. Charles is a graduate of Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She earned two master’s degrees in education at Fayetteville State University and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Morgan State University in Baltimore.

Soyoung Lee was appointed chief curator for the Harvard Art Museums. She has been serving as a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. She joined the staff at the museum in 2003 as its first curator for Korean art.

Dr. Lee holds a Ph.D. in art history from Columbia University in New York City.

Rosa Githiora was named director of multicultural services and programs in the Division of Student Affairs at the University of Georgia. She has held administrative posts at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, the University of Toledo, and the University of Akron.

Dr. Githiora is a graduate of St. Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania, where she majored in criminal justice and sociology. She holds a master of public administration degree in nonprofit management and a Ph.D. in urban studies and public affairs from the University of Akron.

Zeena M. Abdulahad will be the next executive vice president and chief development officer for the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. She has been serving as vice president for development at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Abdulahad is a graduate of Boston College. She earned a master of public administration degree from Baruch College of the City University of New York.

Donna Levin will be the inaugural executive director of innovation and entrepreneurship at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. She has been serving as entrepreneur-in-residence at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Levin is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston and holds an executive MBA from MIT.