Six Women Who Are Retiring From High-Level University Positions

Katherine Ku, the executive director of the Office of Technology Licensing at Stanford University in retiring. She joined the staff at the university 37 years ago and has served in her current position for 27 years. During her tenure, the Office of Technology Licensing doubled its staff and licensed hundreds of new technologies developed by Stanford researchers. These licenses have brought in more than $1.8 billion.

Ku earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Washington University.

Judy Rose, special assistant to the chancellor for intercollegiate athletics at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, will step down from her post on June 30. She will be named athletics director emerita.

During her three decades as athletics director, Rose presided over the construction of athletics facilities costing more than $100 million. For 19 consecutive years during her tenure, student athletes at the university had a higher grade point average than the student body as a whole.

Sarah Thomas vice president of the Harvard Library, and the Roy E. Larsen Librarian for the Faculty of Arts and sciences at Harvard University, is retiring. She has served in this post for the past five years. Earlier, Dr. Thomas was the director of the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford. She was the first woman and the first foreign citizen in 400 years to hold that post.

Dr. Thomas is a graduate of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She holds a master of library science degree and a Ph.D. in German literature.

Paula Miller, a clinical professor in the department of health and kinesiology at Texas A&M University, is retiring after 34 years at the university. She also had been serving as associate undergraduate program coordinator for the department.

Dr. Miller holds a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate in educational administration from Texas A&M University.

Karin M. Wiburg, a Distinguished Professor of learning design and technology, as well as the director of a STEM education research group in the College of Education at New Mexico State University, is retiring. She served as the associate dean for research in the College of Education from 2004 to 2013.

Dr. Wiburg joined the faculty at New Mexico State University in 1993. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s degree in educational psychology from the University of Washington. Dr. Wiburg earned an educational doctorate from Alliance International University.

Diane Herson, an associate professor in the department of biological science at the University of Delaware, is retiring and was granted emerita status. She joined the faculty at the university in 1968.

Dr. Herson is a graduate of Cornell University. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University in New Jersey.