Five Women Who Have Announced They Are Stepping Down From Their University Posts

Mary Ann Rankin, senior vice president and provost at the University of Maryland College Park, has retired. She has served as provost for the past eight years. Before coming to the University of Maryland, Dr. Rankin served as a professor of zoology and dean of the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.

A native of Indiana, Dr. Rankin is a graduate of Louisiana State University. She earned a Ph.D. in physiology and behavior from the University of Iowa.

Renée A. Middleton has announced her intent to step down as dean of The Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education at Ohio University at the end of June 2021. Dr. Middleton has served as dean and tenured professor of counselor education for the last 15 years.

Dr. Middleton received a bachelor’s degree in speech and hearing from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. She holds a master’s degree in clinical audiology from the University of Tennessee, and a Ph.D. in rehabilitation administration from Auburn University in Alabama.

Regina Vasilatos-Younken, vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate School, has announced that she will retire from Pennsylvania State University on December 31, after 45 years at the university. Dr. Vasilatos-Younken was appointed dean in 2015 and has been on the faculty at the university since 1983.

Dean Vasilatos-Younken is a graduate of the University of Maine. She holds a Ph.D. in animal nutrition from Pennsylvania State University.

Glenda Jones, director of career services at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, is retiring after a  career spanning nearly four decades. She began her career as a clerk-typist in the admissions office at the university. She was named director of career services in 2003.

Jones holds a bachelor’s degree in management and a master’s degree in counseling from Prairie View A&M University.

Cassandra Vaughn, university veterinarian in the School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences at Alcorn State University in Mississippi, has announced her retirement. She has held the post since 1996.

Dr. Vaughn earned a bachelor’s degree from Alcorn State Univerity in 1984. She went on to obtain a doctor of veterinary medicine degree from Mississippi State University in 1988.