Colleges and Universities Appoint Seven Women to New Administrative Positions

Jennifer Hall-Jones is the inaugural vice president for student affairs at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. She has been serving as the interim vice president for student affairs at Ohio University.

Dr. Hall-Jones holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and criminology, a master’s degree in education and a doctorate in higher education administration, all from Ohio University.

Shea Kidd Brown was appointed vice president for campus life at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She has been serving as dean of students at the University of Texas.

Originally from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Dr. Kidd Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in speech communication from the University of Southern Mississippi. She holds a master’s degree in college student affairs administration from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in educational psychology and research from the University of Memphis.

Lissy Garrison has been named the new vice chancellor for advancement at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, effective January 10. Since 2017, she has served as the assistant vice chancellor for development at the University of Denver. Earlier, she spent seven years as assistant dean for advancement for the College of Music at the University of Colorado Boulder. From 1994 to 2009, Garrison was executive director of Ballet Nouveau Colorado.

Garrison is a graduate of Colorado College, where she majored in business administration. She holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Lisa VanDeWeert was appointed vice president for business and finance and chief financial officer at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. She has been serving as vice president and chief financial officer at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She will begin her new role on February 16.

VanDeWeert holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the State University of New York College at Oswego.

Kimberly Davidson will be the inaugural ombudsperson at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. For the past five years, she was been the omsbudperson at Oberlin College in Ohio. She has been on the staff at Oberlin for 20 years.

Davidson attended Spelman College in Atlanta, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English. She holds a master’s degree in African languages, literatures and linguistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Amy Shoemaker was named vice president and general counsel at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, effective Januaury 18. She has been serving as deputy university counsel and associate athletic director for administration at the University of Louisville.

Shoemaker earned a bachelor’s degree in government from the College of William and Mary in Williamsbirg, Virginia. She holds a law degree from the Univerity of Kentucky.

DeNeia Thomas has been selected as the new vice president for enrollment and student success at Texas Southern University in Houston. She has been serving as the chief of staff at West Virginia State University.

A native of Kentucky, Dr. Thomas earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Kentucky State University. She earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Kentucky.