Sixteen Women Taking on New Administrative Duties at Colleges and Universities

Tracey DeBlase Huston is the new vice president for outreach at Pennsylvania State University. She had served in the post on an interim basis since January 2017. Earlier, she was associate vice president for marketing and enrollment services for outreach and online education.

Huston joined the staff at Penn State in 1994, after serving as assistant director of college communications for Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.

Janet Wormack was named vice chancellor of finance and administration at Houston Community College in Texas. She has been serving as senior vice president for administrative and fiscal services at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland. She will begin her new job on September 1.

Dr. Wormack is a graduate of Arizona State University, where she majored in business administration. She holds a master’s degree in administrative management from Bowie State University in Maryland and a doctorate in community college leadership from Morgan State University in Baltimore.

Shaneil Ealy was promoted to associate vice president in the Division of Outreach and Community Engagement at the University of Central Arkansas. She was worked in the division for the past 15 years, most recently as assistant vice president.

Dr. Ealy is a graduate of the University of Arkansas. She earned an MBA at the University of Central Arkansas and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Erika Wilkens was promoted to assistant provost and executive director of the study abroad program at Syracuse University in New York. She had been serving as special assistant for global engagement to the senior vice president for academic operations. Earlier, she was the founding director of the university’s study abroad center in Istanbul.

Dr. Wilkins holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in international development from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. She earned a second master’s degree in international relations from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom and a Ph.D. in political science from Syracuse University.

Jan Madsen was appointed executive vice president at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. She has been serving as chief financial officer and treasurer for West Corporation in Omaha. From 2010 to 2014, Madsen was vice president for finance at Creighton University.

A certified public accountant, Madsen earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Kelly Gray was named assistant dean and executive director of the Advising Resource Center in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Dr. Gray has been on the staff at the university for the past 11 years, serving most recently as associate dean of students for student life.

Dr. Gray is a graduate of Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, where she majored in health administration. She holds a master’s degree in educational policy and research administration and an educational doctorate from  the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Vaniethia Hubbard was appointed vice president of student services at Santa Ana College in California. Since 2008, she has been dean of instruction and student services for continuing education for the North Orange County Community College District in California.

Dr. Hubbard holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and an educational doctorate from California State University, Fullerton. She also earned a master of social work degree from Clark Atlanta University.

Elizabeth Gray was named state director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of New Hampshire. The center is an outreach program of the university’s College of Business and Economics. She had been serving as director of entrepreneurship at the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority.

Gray is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, where she majored in international affairs and environmental conservation. She holds a master of public administration degree from the University of New Hampshire-Manchester.

Melissa Kiper is the new director of the Alumni Association at the University of Louisiana-Monroe. She is a former academic adviser in the Student Success Center at the university.

Kiper is a graduate of Louisiana Tech University, where she majored in marketing. She holds an MBA from the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

Wendy Kobler is the new vice president for advancement at Kentucky State University. She was vice president for advancement at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.

Kobler holds a master’s degree in marketing and education from Alabama A&M University. She has completed coursework for a doctorate and is working on her dissertation at the Indiana Institute of Technology.

Johnna Herrick-Phelps was named assistant provost for online programs at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. She was vice provost for academic affairs at Granite State College in Concord, New Hampshire.

Dr. Herrick-Phelps holds a bachelor’s degree in human services and a master’s degree in organizational management from Springfield College in Massachusetts. She earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in human and organizational development systems from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California.

Katherine Knapp Watts is the new vice president for strategic planning at Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She had been serving as vice president for enrollment, financial aid, and communications at the college.

Watts is a 1980 graduate of Salem College. She holds a master’s degree in liberal arts from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Kelli Kilpatrick was appointed senior director of graduate business programs at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. She is the former director of the full-time MBA program at Texas A&M University and later worked in the graduate business program at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

Kilpatrick is a graduate of Texas A&M University, where she majored in finance. She holds a master’s degree in education from the University of South Carolina.

Nicole Hudson was named assistant vice chancellor for the Academy for Diversity and Inclusion at Washington University in St. Louis. She was deputy mayor for racial equity and priority initiatives for the City of St. Louis.

Hudson is a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she majored in communications.

Eileen Goldgeier was appointed vice president and general counsel at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. For the past eight years, she has served as vice chancellor and general counsel at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

Goldgeier is a 1985 graduate of Brown University, where she majored in environmental studies. She earned her law degree at Emory University in Atlanta.

Joyce Gordon is the new director of Jewish life at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She has been serving as operations director for Meals on Wheels. Earlier, she spent eight years as director of the Judea Reform Congregation in Durham.

Gordon is a graduate of Rice University in Houston Texas, where she majored in English language and literature. She holds a master of public administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.