Eight Women Who Have Been Assigned New Administrative Duties at Universities

María R. Estorino is the new vice provost for University Libraries and university librarian at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has held this role on an interim capacity since May 2022. She joined the University Libraries in 2017 as associate university librarian for special collections and director of the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library.

Estorino is a graduate of Loyola University in New Orleans, where she majored in history. She holds a master’s degree in history from Northeastern University in Boston and a master’s degree in library science from Simmons University in Boston.

Tasha A. Carson has been appointed assistant vice president for first-year students in the Division of Enrollment Management at Tennessee State University. She was the executive director of new student programs and retention at the university. She joined the staff at Tennessee State in 2018.

Dr. Carson holds bachelor’s degrees in political science and human science and a master’s degree in counselor education from North Carolina Central University. She earned a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Jackson State University in Mississippi.

Kelsey Otero was named senior director of community engagement at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was director of innovation for the university’s 707 Hub, where she conducted business boot camps for community entrepreneurs and worked to build the social innovation ecosystem in Wisconsin.

Otero joined the staff at Marquette University in 2014. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and earned an MBA from Marquette University.

Nina Rodriguez Gonser is the new vice president for digital learning at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She had been serving in the role on an interim basis. Gonser joined the staff at the university in 2017 as director of finance and operations in the Batten College of Engineering. She went on to become associate vice president for academic affairs.

Conser received a bachelor’s degree in finance with a minor in business analytics and an MBA with a concentration in human resources from Temple University in Philadelphia.

Michelle Garfield Cook has been named the next vice president for student affairs at the University of Georgia. She has been serving as senior vice provost, where she oversaw strategic initiatives and programs spanning the University of Georgia while also leading the Office of Institutional Diversity.

Dr. Cook joined the staff at the university in 1998. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a master’s degree from Yale University, and a Ph.D. from Duke University.

Theresa Mayer was appointed vice president for research at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. She was executive vice president for research and partnerships at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Prior to Purdue, Dr. Mayer served as vice president for research and innovation at Virginia Tech and as associate dean for research and innovation at Penn State University.

Dr. Mayer received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Purdue University.

Renee Kopkowski has been appointed vice president for communications at Yale University, effective April 1. She will lead Yale’s Office of Public Affairs & Communications and serve as the university’s chief communications officer. She has been serving as vice president for communications at Georgia Tech.

Kopkowski is a magna cum laude graduate of Clemson University in South Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in journalism.

Jessie Herrmann is the new director of government relations at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Before coming to the university in January 2021, Herrmann was the lead lobbyist and legal counsel for Nebraska Cattlemen.

Herrmann received a bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Kansas. She earned a juris doctorate at the University of Nebraska College of Law.