Ten Women Who Have Been Appointed to Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Elizabeth Adams is the new director of the Office of Research and Project Administration at Princeton University in New Jersey. She is the former assistant vice president of research administration and director of the Office of Sponsored Programs at the University of Virginia.

Adams is a graduate of Emory University in Atlanta, where she double majored in English and psychology.

Kris Petersen was named assistant athletics director for strategic communications at Pennsylvania State University. She joined the staff at Penn State in 2006 and most recently has served as the assistant athletics director for football.

Petersen is a graduate of Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in broadcasting and public relations.

Lois Brooks is the new chief information officer and vice provost for information technology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was vice provost for information and technology and chief information officer at Oregon State University.

Brooks is a graduate of the University of San Francisco, where she majored in economics. She holds MBAs from the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia Business School.

Cherie Meador was promoted to vice president of institutional effectiveness at Malcolm X College in Chicago. She was the senior manager for accreditation and compliance at the college. Earlier, Dr. Meador was interim associate vice chancellor for academic programs at City Colleges of Chicago.

Dr. Meador is graduate of Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she majored in communication. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia College in Chicago and a doctorate in higher education and organizational change from Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois.

Beth Clarke is the new senior executive director of admissions strategy and counseling at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. She was assistant vice president for enrollment at Virginia Wesleyan University in Norfolk. She has been on the staff at Virginia Wesleyan for 12 years.

Clarke has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Virginia Wesleyan University and a master’s degree in educational policy, planning and leadership with a specialization in higher education administration from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Jacqueline Y. Powers was appointed interim associate vice provost for enrollment management at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. She has been serving as director of orientation and new student programs at the university.

Powers is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, where she majored in speech communications. She holds a master’s degree in leadership management from Amridge University in Montgomery, Alabama.

Jennifer Sherer was named director of the Entrepreneur & Innovation Institute in the College of Business at Georgia State University. She has been serving as president of innovation and entrepreneurship at Metro Atlanta Chamber.

Dr. Sherer is a graduate of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where she majored in biochemistry. She holds a Ph.D. in molecular physiology and biological physics from the University of Virginia.

Adrianne Johnson-Williams was appointed special assistant to the president for strategy and planning at LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis. She was a program officer at the Pyramid Peak Foundation.

Dr. Johnson-Williams is a graduate of Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she double majored in economics and French. She holds a master’s degree in secondary education from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a Ph.D. in educational policy studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Jennifer Cruden is the new public information officer for police and public safety at Pennsylvania State University. She was a senior writer/editor for the College of Health and Human Development at the university.

Cruden holds a master’s degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Caroline Agardy was named vice president for human resources at the University of South Carolina. Since 2011, she has been associate vice president for human resources. Earlier, she was the human resource director at the South Carolina Budget and Control Board.

Agardy hold a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master of public administration degree from the University of South Carolina.