Ten Women Who Will Be Taking on New Administrative Duties at Colleges and Universities

Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar has been named vice president for strategic initiatives at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. Dr. Rodgriguez-Farrar, who first joined Colgate in 2018, will take on this new role in addition to her current duties as secretary to the board of trustees. Prior to coming to Colgate, she served in several capacities at Dominican University of California, Brown University,  Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard Business School, and the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Dr. Rodriguez-Farrar holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in the history of art and architecture from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She holds master’s and doctoral degrees in higher education leadership and policy studies from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Debra A. Bright is the new associate vice provost for student affairs at George Washington University. She was the associate vice president for student affairs at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Earlier in her career, Dr. Bright served for 13 years as director of admissions and student services at the George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development.

Dr. Bright earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University in New York. She holds a master’s degree in education from Harvard University and a doctorate in higher education administration from George Washington University.

Catie McCorry-Andalis has been named vice president for student affairs at the University of Texas at El Paso. Dr. McCorry-Andalis has worked at the university for nearly 18 years, serving as associate vice president and dean of students since 2011.

Dr. McCorry-Andalis holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California. She earned a doctoral degree in educational leadership and administration from the University of Texas at El Paso.

Jennifer Havens is the new director of the Center for Business Analytics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Havens spent the last decade in leadership effectiveness and development. Her most recent roles include serving as an executive coach at Amazon.

Havens holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing management from Virginia Tech. She earned an MBA from Radford University in Virginia.

Victoria A. Alexis is the new director of communications and marketing at Dillard University in New Orleans. She had been working at the Louisiana Department of Health, where she served as the lead for the Bureau of Family Health’s communications operations and strategy team.

Alexis holds a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Tulane University in New Orleans.

Amanda Cochran-McCall has been promoted to vice president for legal affairs and general counsel at the University of Texas at Austin. Cochran-McCall was deputy vice president for legal affairs at the university for the past four years. Before joining the university in 2019, she served in various roles for almost a decade working in the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

Cochran-McCall is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She earned a juris doctorate at the Oklahoma City University School of Law.

Jacqueline M. Reese has been named ombuds at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Reese comes to Bowdoin from Emory University in Atlanta, where she has served in a number of roles of increasing responsibility for nearly 20 years, most recently as associate director of student access services.

Reese holds a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with focuses on writing, sociology, and information technology from Georgia Southern University. She earned a master’s degree in peace studies and conflict resolution at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

Maika Pollack was appointed executive director and chief curator of the Syracuse University Art Museum. She has been serving as the director and chief curator at the John Young Museum of Art and University Galleries at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in Honolulu.

Dr. Pollack holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, where she majored in art history and social studies. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in the history of art and architecture at Princeton University in New Jersey.

Kelly P. Doney was appointed vice president and chief information officer at the University of Virginia, effective August 14. She has been serving as vice president and chief information officer at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. She previously was associate vice president for enterprise applications at Georgetown University.

Doney earned a bachelor’s degree in music and psychology from Ithaca College in New York. She holds a master’s degree in experimental psychology from Syracuse University.

Karensa “Kari” DiFonzo has been named director of undergraduate financial aid for Yale College, effective August 21. DiFonzo comes to Yale from Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she has served as director of student financial services since 2017.

Raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, DiFonzo is a first-generation college student. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Wellesley College.