Colleges and Universities Announce the Appointments of Ten Women to Administrative Positions

Mary Lou D. Ortiz assumed the title of associate vice president for budget and university budget officer at Pennsylvania State University. She joined the staff at Penn State in 2017 after serving as vice chancellor for finance and administration at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Ortiz earned a bachelor’s degree, an MBA, and a master of public administration degree, all from Columbia University. She is currently a candidate for a doctorate in higher education from Penn State.

Kathryn Wendell was appointed executive director of the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility at the Leeds School of Business on the campus of the University of Colorado. She was a director of the Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies at Stanford University, which enables social entrepreneurs in Africa and Asia to grow and scale their businesses.

Wendell is a graduate of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where she majored in cultural anthropology and Spanish. She earned an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and a master’s degree in cultural anthropology at Yale University.

Christie Taylor is the new secretary to the board of trustees of Howard University in Washington, D.C. Taylor most recently served as the associate secretary of the MIT Corporation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Previously, Taylor served in several administrative and financial leadership roles at Harvard University.

Taylor earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University. She holds a master’s degree in English literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Melinda West has been named associate vice president for finance and university controller at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She has served in the role on an interim basis since May 2020. From 2010 to 2020, West served as university bursar.

A certified public accountant, West received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Radford University in Virginia and an MBA from Averett University in Danville, Virginia.

Alison Chandler was recently promoted to assistant vice president of strategic enrollment management and student success at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, Illinois. She formerly held the position of executive director of student development, advising, and career success.

Chandler earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Spelman College in Atlanta. She holds a master’s degree in educational psychology and counselor education from Tennessee Tech University, and a master’s degree in academic advising from Kansas State University. She is pursuing her doctorate in higher education leadership from National Louis University.

Katherine Dorrity was appointed assistant director of emergency management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Most recently, she was assistant director of emergency management and continuity at Indiana University Bloomington. She also served as an associate professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.

Dorrity holds a bachelor’s degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a master’s degree from Georgia State University.

Shannon Palmer is the new chief of staff and assistant to the president for strategic initiatives at Edward Waters University in Jacksonville, Florida. She most recently served as assistant to the chief of staff at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro.

Palmer earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a master’s degree in education from Abilene Christian University in Texas. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in educational leadership at East Carolina University.

Erin King Sweeney was named senior associate director of the Institute of Politics and Global Affairs at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She is a former member of the town council in Hempstead, New York, on Long Island.

King Sweeney holds a bachelor’s degree and a juris doctorate from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Beth R. Glassman was named the next director of human resources at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, effective September 20. She has been serving as chief human resources officer at Union College in Schenectady, New York.

Glassman holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. She earned a juris doctorate and an MBA from Widener University.

Liz Andrews was appointed executive director of the Museum of Fine Art at Spelman College in Atlanta. She has spent the last five years as the executive administrator in the director’s office of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

A native of Denver, Colorado, Dr. Andrews holds a bachelor’s degree in American studies from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. She earned a master’s degree in arts politics from the Tisch School of the Arts of New York University and a Ph.D. in cultural studies from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.