Colleges and Universities Announce the Appointments of 21 Women to Administrative Posts

Brooke Beier has been appointed vice president of the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) at the Purdue Research Foundation. She was previously executive director of the OTC.

Dr. Beier is an alumna of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where she earned bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. degrees in biomedical engineering from the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering.

Theresea Bakker has been appointed director of alumni relations and executive director of the alumni association at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. She was the marketing and communications manager at the University of Alaska Museum of the North.

Bakker holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in creative writing from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.

Leah DeCosta has been named associate vice president for alumni relations at Boston College. Formerly, she was the director of alumni relations at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

DeCosta holds a bachelor of science degree from Temple University’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Heather Daniels has been named director of admissions for Colorado State University. She has been serving as interim director for over a year. Before that, she worked in admissions at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, for 11 years.

Daniels has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, and a master’s degree in education from Colorado State University.

Precious Porras has been appointed assistant vice provost for diversity and equity in the Office of Diversity and Equity at the University of Kansas. She was previously director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs and has worked at the university since 2005.

Porras holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from Northwest Missouri State University and a master’s degree in counseling/student personnel from Emporia State University in Kansas. She is currently completing a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Kansas.

Sarah M Dunifon has been named the inaugural associate director for women in science and engineering at the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Formerly, she was senior research and evaluation associate for the Wildlife Conversation Society.

Dunifon is a graduate of the Ohio State University where she studied anthropology, international relations and diplomacy, and Middle East studies. She also holds a master’s degree in biology from Miami University.

Shernita Lee has been named director of the Graduate School Office of Recruitment, Diversity, and Inclusion at Virginia Tech University. She was previously a program specialist in education and outreach for the Biocomplexity Institute at Virginia Tech.

Dr. Lee holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Alabama State University and a Ph.D. in genetics, bioinformatics, and computational biology from Virginia Tech University.

Katrina Poe has been selected as the newest staff physician at the John C. Longest Student Health Center at Mississippi State University. She has served as a family physician in Montgomery County, Mississippi, for the past 17 years.

Dr. Poe earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Mississippi State University and her medical degree from the University of Mississippi.

Hallie Pritchett has been named associate dean of libraries for research and learning at North Dakota State University. She was the head of the Map and Government Information Library at the University of Georgia.

Pritchett is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where she studied psychology, sociology, and English with an emphasis in law, criminology, and deviance. She also holds a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in internet technology from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.

Monica Roberts has been appointed director of media relations at Oklahoma State University. She was director of communications and strategic planning at KSQ Design in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Director Roberts holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Oklahoma Christian University.

Lisa Phelps has been named interim director of University of Maine Cooperative Extension. She currently serves as Maine’s statewide 4-H program leader.

Dr. Phelps holds a bachelor’s degree in printing management and technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, a master’s degree in college student personnel administration/student affairs in higher education from Colorado State University, and a Ph.D. in college student personnel administration/educational leadership from the University of Northern Colorado.

Paige Eidenschink has been selected as the first-ever fraternity and sorority life coordinator in the Division of Student Affairs at Utah State University. She spent the last year working as a consultant for the Kappa Alpha Theta Fraternity.

Eidenschink holds a bachelor’s degree in management communication from North Dakota State University.

Kimberly Paul has been appointed chief administrative officer at the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University. She has been serving as chief executive officer of Wright State Physicians.

Paul holds a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and a master’s degree in health administration from Ohio University.

Anne Hudak has been named assistant dean for undergraduate veterans at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Previously, she was the assistant dean for undergraduate students.

Hudak earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, and a master’s degree in the science of administration from Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont.

Debra Foster has been promoted to assistant vice president for campus services at Princeton University. She was the senior associate director for administrative planning in the Office of the Executive Vice President.

Foster holds a bachelor’s degree in East Asian studies from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Erin Bellisimo has been selected as managing director of the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Global Investing. She was the founding director of the Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing program at Colombia Business School.

Bellisimo received a bachelor’s degree in management from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and an MBA in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Katherine Murphy has been appointed interim general counsel at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, North Carolina. She has worked in the university’s Office of Legal Affairs as deputy general counsel.

Dr. Murphy holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Binghamton University in New York, a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Jennifer Wilson has been appointed director of Rice University’s Program for Writing and Communication. She was previously the director of the Center for Written, Oral, and Visual Communication at the university.

Dr. Wilson earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Rice University, a master’s degree in applied English linguistics from the University of Houston, and a Ph.D. in second language education from the University of Toronto.

Deirdre Logan has been named a full-time physician devoted to the care of female students at the University of Southern California Student Health Center. For the past 14 years, she has been the chief physician of the OB/GYN department as well as founder and director of the teen clinic at Watts Healthcare in Los Angeles, California.

Dr. Logan holds a medical doctorate from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in medical management from USC’s Marshall School of Business.

Darrilynn Todd has been appointed associate vice chancellor of student affairs and enrollment services at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. She was previously executive administrator at the UTHSC and has been serving as interim associate vice chancellor since May.

Dr. Todd holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Northern Colorado, a master’s degree in education from Oakland University, and an MBA and Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University.

Sharon Strange Lewis has been named director of alumni relations at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. She was the director of women and diversity programs and other alumni programs at the University of Maryland.

Strange-Lewis earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Howard University and her MBA from the University of Maryland.