Five Women Appointed to Administrative Roles at Universities

Dena Beard has been named executive director of the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. She comes to her new role from Brooklyn College, where she served as director of the Leonard & Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts. Previously, she was the executive director of The Lab San Francisco and assistant curator at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.

Beard earned her bachelor’s degree in culture and studio art from Scripps College in Claremont, California, and her master’s degree in modern art history, theory, and criticism from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Marilou Smith has been appointed vice president for facilities management at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. She has been a member of the university’s staff for nearly three decades, most recently serving as assistant vice president for engineering and construction. Before her long tenure with Villanova, she was a designer for PWI Engineering.

Smith is a two-time Villanova graduate, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and an MBA with a concentration in real estate and finance.

Joyce Henri Robinson has been selected to serve as interim director of the Palmer Museum of Art at Pennsylvania State University. She began her career with the Palmer Museum in 1997 as a curator. For the past six years, she has served as the museum’s assistant director.

Dr. Robinson received her bachelor’s degree from Davidson College in North Carolina. She earned her master’s degree in art history and doctorate in nineteenth- and twentieth-century European and American art from the University of Virginia.

Katie Echols has been promoted to assistant vice president of research and associate director of governmental relations at Mississippi State University. She has been a staff member with university for nearly two decades. Prior to her new promotion, she served as executive director for research initiatives and innovation in the Office of Research and Economic Development.

Dr. Echols received her bachelor’s degree in education, as well as her master’s degree and a Ph.D. in public policy and administration from Mississippi State University.

Stephanie Froehlich has been appointed vice president for engagement at the University of Memphis in Tennessee. For the past two years, she has served as senior vice president of development at Kansas State University. Earlier in her career, she was the senior associate vice chancellor for development at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She has also served in several development roles at Auburn University in Alabama.

Froehlich holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Auburn University.