Nine Women Who Have Been Named to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Nakia White Barr was selected as acting secretary of the Michigan State University Board of Trustees. She has been working at the Michigan State University Office of General Counsel in addition to teaching as an adjunct professor at the College of Law. Prior to this position, Barr served as chief municipal prosecutor for the City of Trenton.

Barr received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and went on to earn a law degree from Harvard Law School.

Daeya Malboeuf has been promoted to director of communications for the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University in New York. She was the director of marketing and communications for undergraduate enrollment.

Malboeuf has been on the staff at the university for 13 years. She holds a master’s degree in communications and rhetoric from Syracuse University.

Gabrielle Simpson has been named vice president and head of communications at Barnard College in New York City. Before this appointment, she was the global director of communications and public relations at the marketing firm Foote, Cone & Belding. She also serves as an adjunct professor of marketing and communications at New York University.

Simpson earned a bachelor’s degree in television and video production and film and a master’s degree in sports and entertainment public relations from Iona College in New York.

Jane Irungu has been named interim associate vice president for university community at the University of Oklahoma. She has been serving as the executive director for the Southwest Center of Human Relations Studies.

Dr. Irungu earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya. She then went on to earn an a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. She is the author of Engaging College Students for Success: International Students in U.S Higher Education Institutions (LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 2011).

Jennifer Hunter has been appointed as Brown University’s first associate director of athletics for diversity and inclusion initiatives. She was the director of diversity, inclusion, and engagement at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Hunter is a graduate of Howard University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations and sports management. She also holds a juris doctorate from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law.

Karen Herrington has been named director of data analytics and visualization in the Division of Information Technology at Virginia Tech. Prior to this appointment, she was director of identity strategy and administration in Secure Identity Services at the university.

Herrington has earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science from Mississippi State University.

Hilda McMackin has been appointed director of the newly founded Office of Research Development and Support at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Prior to this appointment, she was the research development program manager at the university.

Dr. McMackin received a bachelor’s degree in psychology, French, and art history from Oberlin College in Ohio. She earned her Ph.D. in psychology from Vanderbilt University.

Sara Cliffe has been named interim Title IX Coordinator at the University of New Mexico. She has been serving as the Office of Equal Opportunity compliance manager at the university.

Cliffe holds a juris doctorate from Northern Illinois University College of Law.

Pamela Fitzgerald had been promoted to director of equal opportunity and affirmative at Kent State University in Ohio. She previously served as compliance manager and deputy Title IX coordinator.

Fitzgerald holds associate’s degrees in paralegal studies and information management. She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in integrative studies with a minor in human resources management.