Two Women Presidents Announce They Will Step Down at the End of the Academic Year

Noelle E. Cockett, president of Utah State University, has announced that she will step down from her post on July 1. She will continue as a tenured member of the USU faculty after her presidency comes to a close. Dr. Cockett is the first woman to serve as president of Utah State University.

“It is my great honor to know this transition to a new leader is occurring at a time when Utah State University is solidly on its trajectory to greatness, which will ensure that the pool of applicants will be deep,” Dr. Cockett said in a letter to the university community.

Dr. Cockett became president of the university in January 2017. From 2013 to 2017, she served as executive vice president and provost at the university. From 2006 to 2013, she was vice president for extension and agriculture. Earlier, Dr. Cockett was dean of the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences. Her research has centered on the identification of genetic regions associated with economically important traits in sheep, as well as the development of resources that advance research on the sheep genome.

Dr. Cockett is a graduate of Montana State University, where she majored in animal science. She holds master’s and doctoral degrees in animal genetics from Oregon State University.

Sylvia M. Jenkins, president of Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, Illinois, has announced that she will retire on June 30. She was promoted to president of the college on July 1, 2012. She had been serving as vice president for academic affairs at the college.

“I’ve been blessed to be able to serve in this role for 10 years,” Dr. Jenkins said. “I will finish my 11th year when I retire next summer, but we still have a lot of work to do. Moraine Valley is a fantastic community college, and I am committed to making sure we do the best that we can to keep it going the way it has been going for over 50-plus years. We have good leadership on our campus, and I expect the board will be supportive of whoever comes in this role.”

Dr. Jenkins started out her career as a librarian at Virginia Union University in Richmond. She joined the library staff at Moraine Valley in 1986 and in 1995 was named department chair of the library. She was named assistant dean in 2001 and dean of academic development and learning resources in 2003.

Dr. Jenkins is a graduate of Grambling State University in Louisiana. She earned a master’s degree in library and information science from the University at Albany, part of the State University of New York System. She holds a doctorate in education and human resource studies from Colorado State University.