Eleven Women Who Have Been Appointed to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Lori Hurvitz is the new associate vice president for alumni relations at Tulane University in New Orleans. She was executive director of alumni engagement and annual giving at the University of Chicago. Dr. Hurvitz had served on the staff at the University of Chicago for 20 years.

Dr. Hurvitz is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where she majored in sociology and political science. She holds a master’s degree in education from Harvard University and an educational doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.

Connesia Handford has been named a diversity counseling and outreach specialist and staff psychologist with the Counseling and Mental Health Center at the University of Texas at Austin. She was a psychology intern at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Handford is a graduate of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master of science degree in clinical counseling psychology from Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia, and a doctorate of psychology from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Elise Alford has been named interim special assistant to the chief of staff at Boise State University in Idaho. She mot recently served as senior associate director of the Boise State student union. Alford has been on the staff at the university since 2010.

Alford is a graduate of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where she majored in English and human and organizational development. She holds a master’s degree in higher education administration and policy from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Alanka Hayes Brown is the new president of the Eduardo J. Padrón Campus of Miami Dade College in Florida. Dr. Brown recently served as the vice president for academic and student affairs at Wilbur Wright College in Chicago, Illinois. Earlier, she served as the associate vice president for academic affairs and dean of career programs at Frederick Community College in Frederick, Maryland.

Dr. Brown is a graduate of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida where she majored in political science. She holds a master’s degree from Florida State University and a master of public administration degree and a doctorate in higher education administration from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Karen Restifo has been named regional vice dean of Drexel University College of Medicine’s Tower Health campus in West Reading, Pennsylvania. She was associate dean of student affairs at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Earlier, Dr. Restifo was associate dean of student affairs at the University of Arizona College of Medicine at Phoenix.

Dr. Restifo is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. She earned her medical degree at Georgetown University and a juris doctorate at the University of Connecticut.

Cheryl Isaac has been named regional executive for Harrisburg Area Community College. Previously, she served as major gifts officer/associate director of development at Pennsylvania State University’s Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Issac holds a bachelor’s degree from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, and a master’s degree in creative nonfiction from the University of Tampa.

Effie Turnbull Sanders, a community leader with more than two decades of experience advancing the rights of underserved Los Angeles communities, will join the University of Southern California in mid-September as vice president of civic engagement and economic partnerships. Turnbull Sanders most recently served as the executive director of the South Los Angeles Transit Empowerment Zone.

Turnbulll Sanders holds a bachelor’s degree and a juris doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Ji-Yeung Jang was appointed interim executive director for global affairs at Ohio University. Dr. Jang has served as director of the Office of Global Affairs since 2018 and previously worked as the associate director for both the Office of Global Affairs and International Studies and Center for International Studies.

Dr. Jang holds a Ph.D. in comparative and international development education from the University of Minnesota.

Roslyn Perry is the new registrar at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. For the past four years, Perry has been registrar at Ohio State University. Earlier, she was registrar at Morehead State University in Kentucky.

Perry is a graduate of Kent State University in Ohio, where she majored in individual and family studies. She holds a master’s degree in community health education from Cleveland State University.

Anne Hazlett was appointed senior director of government relations and public affairs at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. From 2017 to 2019, Hazlett served as assistant to the secretary for rural development at the United States Department of Agriculture. Most recently, Hazlett has served as senior advisor for rural affairs at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Hazlett is a graduate of Kansas State University and the Indiana University School of Law. She holds a master’s degree in agricultural law from the University of Arkansas.

August Mebane was appointed associate vice chancellor of human resources at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. Most recently, she served as the chief human resources officer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Adams School of Dentistry.

A native of Newark, Delaware, Dr. Mebane holds a bachelor’s degree in English and legal studies from the University of Delaware, a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Wilmington University, and a doctorate in organizational development and change from Colorado Technical University.