A Quartet of Women Who Have Been Appointed to Diversity Positions in Higher Education

Neeta Kantamneni has joined the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as the director of faculty engagement. She is the Alan T. Seagren Associate Professor in the department of educational psychology in the College of Education and Human Sciences at the university.

Dr. Kantamneni is a graduate of the University of Iowa. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Renita Miller was named the inaugural chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer for the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been serving as the associate dean of access, diversity, and inclusion and the executive director of the Presidential Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Initiative at Princeton University. Prior to this role, Dr. Miller was the John B. Madden Dean of Berkeley College at Yale University.

Dr. Miller holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from Rice University in Houston.

Michelle Santana is the inaugural chief diversity officer at Neumann University in Aston, Pennsylvania. Since 2021, she had been serving as coordinator of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at Neumann University. Dr. Santana has also been a faculty member in nursing at the university.

Dr. Santana earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Neumann University. She holds a master’s degree in nursing from Drexel University in Philadelphia and a doctorate in nursing from Grand Canyon University.

Takiyah Nur Amin was named director of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design at Virginia Tech. She was an assistant professor of world dance at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Earlier, she was an instructor in the Africana studies program and the department of history at Virginia Tech.

Dr. Amin holds a bachelor’s degree in dance from the University at Buffalo of the State University of New York System. She holds a master of fine arts degree in arts administration from Virginia Tech and a Ph.D. in dance studies from Temple University in Philadelphia.