Karen Diver, former chair for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and former special assistant to the president on Native American affairs during the Obama administration, was named to the newly created position of senior advisor to University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel. Diver will act as a member of President Gabel’s senior leadership team and report directly to the president on Native American affairs.
Diver earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Minnesota, Duluth. She holds a master of public administration degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Victoria K. Holt, vice president of the Stimson Center, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy research institute focused on international affairs, has been named the Norman E. McCulloch Jr. Director of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. She is a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for international security in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs during the Obama administration.
Holt earned her bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. She is also a graduate of the Naval War College.
Jennifer Leon was appointed director of residence life at Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts. Most recently, she was assistant director of student life at the State University of New York-Adirondack in Queensbury, New York.
Leon holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from SUNY-Oneonta and a master’s degree in student affairs in higher education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Roberta Page was appointed director of intercollegiate athletics at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. She will be the first woman to hold the position. Dr. Page has served as the director of championships and alliances at the National Collegiate Athletic Association since 2009.
Dr. Page earned her bachelor’s degree in physical education at Slippery Rock University, where she was a dual-sport athlete in softball and basketball. She went on to earn a pair of master’s degrees in physical education and educational leadership from what is now McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland, and a doctorate in educational leadership from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.
Dr. Howard joins Spelman from Ohio State University, where she has been serving as dean of the College of Engineering. She is a nationally recognized expert in robotics, artificial intelligence, and human-centered technology.
Dr. Gonko has led Henry Ford College in Dearborn, Michigan on an interim basis for the past year. She will assume the presidency of Macomb Community College on July 1.
Since 2014, Dr. Lynch has been the associate vice chancellor for educational development and technologies for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. She has been selected to serve as interim president of the system's Central Lakes College beginning on July 1.
Lesley Reid and Lynne Cossman are the new permanent provosts of the University of Alabama and the University of Massachusetts Lowell, respectively. Brooke Blevins was tapped to serve as interim provost at the University of Idaho.
Dr. Balidemaj-Basha has been a member of the RIT Kosovo community for nearly two decades. Most recently, she served as dean of faculty. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Dr. Balidemaj-Basha earned her Ph.D. from Clemson University in South Carolina.