New Administrative Positions for Eight Women at Major Universities

Hilary Renshaw has been named the Title IX coordinator at Utah State University. She was the temporary Title IX investigation manager in the university’s Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Office.

Renshaw holds a juris doctorate from Louisiana State University and a master’s degree in educational leadership.

Trudy Riley has been named associate vice president for research and innovation and sponsored programs at Virginia Tech, effective January 7, 2019. She currently serves as the executive director of the Office of Sponsored Programs at Georgia Tech.

Riley holds a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Delaware.

Tisha Benton has been named vice chancellor for communications at the University of Tennessee. She was deputy commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Bureau of Environment.

Benton holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree from Tennessee Technological University.

Sara Kurtz Allaei has been named interim associate vice chancellor for international affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. She will continue to hold her current position as assistant vice president for international services.

Allaei holds a bachelor’s degree in English and secondary education from Salisbury University in Maryland and a master’s degree in applied linguistics from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Merri Jo Bales has been named vice president and strategic director of university communications at Michigan State University. She was executive director of strategy development, communications, and integration at Consumers Energy, where she served for 27 years.

Bales holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Michigan State University.

Makayla McMorris has been named executive director of the Office of University Communications at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

McMorris holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and public relations from Nebraska Wesleyan University.

Olivia Kew-Fickus has been named executive director of the Vanderbilt Institutional Research Group. She is currently the director of strategic planning at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

Kew-Fickus holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Leicester in England.

Marjorie Aelion has been named associate vice chancellor for research and engagement at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Since 2009, she has been dean of the School of Public Health and Health Sciences.

Dr. Aelion holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a master’s degree in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in environmental chemistry and biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.