Three Women Who Have Been Appointed to Diversity Positions at Major Universities

Valeria J. Martinez has been named the assistant dean for diversity, equity and inclusion within the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Martinez comes to Carnegie Mellon from Cornell University, where she taught online courses in ethnicity, diversity, and gender studies. Prior to that, she was a national training specialist with The Posse Foundation.

Martinez earned bachelor’s degrees in communication studies and political science from Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree in cultural foundations of education from Syracuse University and is pursuing a doctorate in leadership and learning organizations at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education in Nashville, Tennessee.

Elizabeth Tovar was selected to serve as the executive officer for diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University of Iowa. She has served as interim associate vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion since August 2020 and has worked in the university’s athletics office since 2013.

Dr. Tovar has a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s degree in clinical psychology, and a P.D. in higher education, all from the University of Kansas.

Anju Reejhsinghani was named assistant vice provost for strategic diversity, equity, and inclusion administration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Reejhsinghani is a former tenured associate professor of Latin American and Caribbean history at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, where she also taught courses in global, ethnic, gender, and cultural history.

Dr. Reejhsinghani is a summa cum laude graduate of Princeton University, where she majored in creative writing and history. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Texas at Austin.