New Administrative Positions in Higher Education for 11 Women

Robin Havens Tate is the new director of professional programs outreach for the School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs at Pennsylvania State University. She was a senior instructional designer for the department of mechanical engineering at the university.

Dr. Tate is a graduate of what is now Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia. She holds a master’s degree in instructional systems design and a doctorate in educational psychology from Pennsylvania State University. .

Candace Pate has been named executive director for institutional advancement at Martin University in Indianapolis. She was the director of admissions and community partnerships for Providence Cristo Rey High School.

Pate is a graduate of Indiana State University where she majored in child development and family life. She is currently completing a master’s degree from the School of Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Carrie Nee has been named university counsel at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She most recently served as senior assistant attorney general and chief of the education section in the Virginia attorney general’s office.

Nee is a graduate of the University of Virginia. She holds a master of education degree from the University of Vermont and a juris doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Rebecca McQueen-Ruark has been named vice president of student affairs at Kentucky Wesleyan College. She has served as the college’s dean of students since 2016.

McQueen-Ruark is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.

Johnna Frierson has been named assistant dean for graduate and postdoctoral diversity and inclusion for the Duke University School of Medicine. She most recently served as the founding director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering.

Dr. Frierson is a graduate of Furman University in South Carolina, where she majored in biology. She holds a Ph.D. in virology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Angelique Foster was appointed assistant vice president for strategic initiatives for the University of Colorado System. She was chief of staff for the president of the University of North Dakota.

Foster is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, where she majored in theater and performing arts. She holds a master of fine arts degree in stage management from the University of California, Irvine.

Lynette Cook-Francis was selected to serve as senior vice president for student engagement and enrollment at Simmons University in Boston. She will assume her new duties on August 23. She has been serving as vice president for enrollment management and student affairs at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York.

Cook-Francis is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in English. She is completing work on a doctoral degree at Northern Arizona University.

Mary Lynn Fernau has been named director of executive and international programs in the Glasscock School for Continuing Studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas. For the past decade, she has served as chief external relations and communications director for the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship.

Fernau is a graduate of the University of Nebraska, where she majored in journalism. She holds a master’s degree in liberal arts from Rice University.

Dana Bradley will be the inaugural chief people officer at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. When she begins her new job on September 3, Bradley will be responsible for all human resources functions as well as faculty and staff development programs. Bradley has been serving as associate vice president for human resources at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Bradley holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and a master’s degree in speech communication, both from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She earned an MBA at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Christine Pesetski has been appointed interim director of University College at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Since 2018, she has served as the associate director of University College.

A native of Dubuque, Iowa, Dr. Pesetski earned her undergraduate degree in journalism and political science from Indiana University. She holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Delaware and Ph.D. from North Carolina State University.

Na’Tashua R. Davis has been named interim vice chancellor for inclusion, diversity and equity at the University of Missouri. She was executive director of the Access & Leadership Development Unit at the university.

Dr. Davis holds a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and a master’s degree in college student personnel from Kansas State University. She earned a doctorate in educational leadership and policy analysis from the University of Missouri.