Two Women Campus Leaders Announce Their Retirements

Pamela Fry, the president of the Tulsa campus of Oklahoma State University, has announced that she will retire in January 2022 after only two and a half years in the position. She is the first woman to lead the Tulsa campus of the university.

Before being named president, Dr. Fry served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at the Tulsa campus for three years. She served as vice provost and associate vice president of undergraduate education at the flagship campus of Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. Earlier, Dr. Fry was dean of the university’s College of Education for six years.

Dr. Fry is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. She holds a master’s degree in applied behavioral studies and a doctorate in curriculum and supervision from Oklahoma State University.

Cathy Kemper-Pelle, president of Rogue Community College in Grants Pass, Oregon, announced that she plans to retire at the end of June 2022. She became the college’s sixth president on July 1, 2016, and has worked in higher education since 1980.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my leadership role at RCC and will miss working with such a stellar group of individuals,” Dr. Kemper-Pelle said. “However, Rob [her husband] and I have five grandchildren who have graciously endured a long-distance relationship, and it is time to be hands-on, supportive grandparents before they get too much older.”

Prior to joining RCC, Dr. Kemper-Pelle served as vice president of learning at Lee College in Baytown, Texas, from 2010 to 2016. She holds an associate’s degree from Illinois Central College and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology. She earned a doctorate in community college leadership from the University of Texas at Austin.