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

Michelle Baragona is the new director of training and organizational development for the Division of Finance and Administration at Florida State University. She was a senior consultant at the Performance Innovation Institute at Tallahassee Community College.

Baragona received her bachelor’s degree from Florida State University. She holds a master’s degree in human performance technology/business administration from the University of West Florida.

Tonia Lane is now serving as interim director of Mississippi State University’s Institute for Imaging and Analytical Technologies. She was the director of business operations and program manager for the university’s Advanced Composite Institute.

Lane earned her undergraduate degree in biology from Tennessee Tech University and a master’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Tennessee.

Karen Wright is the new interim vice president for advancement at Fort Valley State University in Georgia. She was the vice president for institutional advancement at St. Thomas Aquinas College in Orangeburg, New York. Earlier, she was the director of development at New York University’s Silver School of Social Work.

Wright is a graduate of Fisk University in Nashville, where she majored in psychology.

Andrea Gyorody has been named the director of the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Dr. Gyorody has served as interim director of the museum since October 2021. Earlier, she was the Ellen Johnson ’33 Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Ohio.

Dr. Gyorody is a graduate of Amherst College in Massachusetts. She holds a master’s degree in the history of art from Williams College in Massachusetts and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Rebecca Barber was appointed vice president of financial planning and analysis at Michigan State University. Most recently, Barber served as associate vice president of financial planning, budget, and analysis and chief budget officer at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Dr. Barber earned her bachelor’s degree from Excelsior College in Albany, New York. She holds a master’s degree in the social and philosophical foundations of education, an MBA, and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies, all from Arizona State University.

Michelle Nichols has been named as senior vice president of clinical affairs at Meharry Medical College in Nashville. She was associate dean for clinical affairs at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta and medical director for Morehouse Healthcare.

Dr. Nichols is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi. She earned her medical degree at the University of Mississippi.

Deidre Hopkins was promoted to Title IX coordinator and equity officer at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. She has been on the staff at the university since 2013.

Hopkins earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in human resources from Western Carolina University.

Monique Carroll was named director of intercollegiate athletics at Chicago State University. Most recently, Dr. Carroll served as director of intercollegiate athletics at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas.

Dr. Carroll is a graduate of the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff, where she majored in secondary health and physical education. She holds a master’s degree in sports management from the United States Sports Academy and an educational doctorate from Northcentral University.