Nine Women Who Have Been Appointed to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Wendy Emerson has been appointed vice chancellor for finance and administration at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. She has served in the role on an interim basis since August 2022. Earlier in her career, Emerson spent 12 years as vice president for business services/chief financial officer and two years as dean of financial services at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem.

Emerson holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in accounting from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.

Shannon Walls has been named interim vice president for institutional advancement at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. Walls has served as the college’s Title IX coordinator, special assistant to the president, and staff liaison for the trusteeship committee for the board of trustees. Earlier, she served in the advancement and philanthropy office from 1995-2015.

Walls earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in theatre from Stephens College.

Whitney McDowell-Robinson was named vice president for student development and engagement at Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia. She has been serving as vice president for enrollment management and student services at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, where she has been on the staff since 2014.

Dr. McDowell-Robinson is a graduate of Tougaloo College, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling and a Ph.D. in urban higher education from Jackson State University in Mississippi.

Katherine Werwie, a medieval art scholar, was named associate curator at the Nash Museum of Art at Duke University, effective June 1. She has been serving as a graduate research assistant in technical cataloging at the Yale Center for British Art.

Werwie is a graduate of Barnard College in New York City. She earned a master’s degree at the University of Cambridge and is completing work on a Ph.D. in the history of art and architecture at Yale University.

Terryl Brown, an attorney with extensive legal, leadership, and management experience in city and state government, has been named vice president and general counsel for Pace University in New York. She was deputy commissioner of legal affairs and administration for the New York City Fire Department.

A native New Yorker, Brown graduated from Pace University with a bachelor’s degree in political science. She earned a master’s degree from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and a juris doctorate and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Richie C. Hunter will be the next vice president for communications at the University of Michigan, effective May 15. She has been serving as vice president for communications at the University of Oregon. Before joining the University of Oregon in 2021, Hunter served as vice president for strategic communications and external relations at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, from 2016 to 2021.

Hunter earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Southern California. She holds a master’s degree in business administration from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.

Brandi Hephner LaBanc was named vice president for student engagement and enrollment services at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, effective June 10. She is the former vice chancellor for student affairs and campus life at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Mississippi.

Dr. Hephner LaBanc earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Akron. She holds a master’s degree in higher education administration and college student personnel from Kent State University in Ohio and a doctorate in adult higher education from Northern Illinois University.

Amber Clawson Albert is the new director of the Mountain Heritage Center at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. She was the manager of Community and Academic Learning at Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Dr. Albert earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. She holds a master’s degree in history from the College of Charleston in South Carolina and a Ph.D. in public history from Middle Tennessee State University

Antoinette Candia-Bailey is the new vice president of student affairs at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. In her previous role, she was vice president of student affairs, chief diversity officer, and Title IX coordinator at Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts.

A native of Chicago, Dr. Candia-Bailey earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Lincoln University of Missouri. She holds a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling-disability studies from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in leadership studies from North Carolina A&T State University.