New Administrative Appointments for Twelve Women in Higher Education

Kim Taylor has been named vice president and general counsel for Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. For the past 10 years, she has served as vice president and general counsel for the University of Chicago. She has over two decades of experience practicing law in New York and Massachusetts.

Taylor holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley and a juris doctorate from the University of California, San Francisco.

Joy L. Smith has been appointed as the inaugural associate vice president for student persistence at New Jersey City University. She comes to her new role from Georgian Court University in Lakewood, New Jersey, where she serves as associate provost for student support and services and chief diversity officer.

Dr. Smith received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and African American studies and her master’s degree in cultural foundations of education from Syracuse University in New York. She holds a doctorate in social and philosophical foundation of education from Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Raven James has been named associate director of athletics for external relations and athletic marketing, as well as senior woman administrator at Manhattan College in New York. Since 2022, she has served as the college’s director of basketball operations for the women’s basketball program. Before her current role, she served as a graduate assistant with James Madison University’s women’s basketball program.

James holds a bachelor’s degree from Villanova University in Pennsylvania.

Jessica Frederickson has been named executive director of higher education in prison and adult education and literacy for the Des Moines Area Community College in Iowa. She previously served the community college as a correctional education instructor. Most recently, she served as the adult education workforce coordinator for Iowa Workforce Development.

Frederickson holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Upper Iowa University, a second bachelor’s degree in speech communications from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and a master’s degree in education from Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Ann Bluntzer has been appointed executive director of the Hamm Institute for American Energy at Oklahoma State University. She has held administrative and faculty positions at Texas Christian University for the past 10 years, currently serving as an associate professor of professional practice and management and the executive director of the Ralph Lowe Energy Institute.

Dr. Bluntzer received her bachelor’s degree in agriculture development and a master of education degree in leadership studies from Texas A&M University. She holds a Ph.D in organizational leadership and management from the University of South Carolina.

Jaynelle Hazard has been named director and chief curator of the Georgetown University Art Galleries in Washington, D.C. She previously served as executive director and chief curator of the Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art in Reston, Virginia, and director of exhibitions at Workforce Art Center in Lorton, Virginia.

Hazard holds a bachelor’s degree in fashion design and merchandising from Virginia Commonwealth University and a master’s degree in art business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art in New York.

Jennifer O’Connor has been named vice president and general counsel at Harvard University. She currently serves as vice president of technology and information law and policy for Northrop Grumman, an American aerospace and defense company. She was previously appointed by former President Barack Obama to serve as general counsel for the Department of Defense in 2016.

O’Connor completed her undergraduate education at Harvard University. She received a master of public affairs degree from Columbia University and a juris doctorate from Georgetown University.

Kenya Tyson has been promoted from senior associate provost to vice provost for strategic initiatives at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshitr. Prior to joining the Dartmouth staff in 2022, she served as assistant provost at The New School in New York and associate dean for academic programs and student services in the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Tyson holds a bachelor’s degree from Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina, a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati, and a juris doctorate from Delaware Law School.

Erika Thompson has been appointed associate director of the Center for African and African American Studies at Rice University in Texas. Most recently, she was community liaison for the African American History Research Center at the Gregory School within the Houston Public Library system.

Thompson holds a master’s degree in Africana studies from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and a second master’s degree in American studies from the University of Maryland.

Ashley Tanksley has been named assistant vice president of enrollment management at Jackson State University in Mississippi. She previously served as director of admissions and interim vice president for admissions at Delta State University in Mississippi. Earlier in her career, she was director of admissions at Meridian Community College in Mississippi.

Tanksley received her bachelor’s degree from Jackson State University and a master’s degree in higher education from the University of West Alabama. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in higher education from Delta State University.

Michele Rasmussen has been appointed vice provost for student affairs at Stanford University in California. Since 2013, she has served as dean of students at the University of Chicago. Prior to her current role, she was dean of the undergraduate college at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. Earlier in her career, she was director of the Academic Advising Center and academic dean for Duke University’s Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Dr. Rasmussen is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, where she double-majored in history and art history. She holds a Ph.D. in biological anthropology and anatomy from Duke University.

Karen Jackson-Weaver has been appointed vice chair of the board of trustees at Princeton Theological Seminary. She currently serves as the senior associate vice president of global faculty engagement and innovation advancement at New York University. She has served in dean positions with Oxford University, Princeton University, and Harvard University.

Dr. Jackson-Weaver holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a master of education degree from Harvard University. She received two additional master’s degrees and a Ph.D. in American history from Columbia University.