Three Women Professors Appointed to Academic Leadership Roles at Universities

Grete Pedersen has been named principal conductor of Yale Schola Cantorum and professor in the practice of conducting at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and the Yale School of Music. She comes to her new role from the Norwegian Academy of Music, where she has taught as a professor in conducting for more than three decades. She also currently serves as the artistic director of the Norweigan Soloists’ Choir. Her new position at Yale is set to begin on January 1, 2026.

Professor Pedersen was originally trained as an organist and church musician before completing postgraduate studies in conducting at the Norwegian Academy of Music.

Haley Oliver has been promoted from interim vice provost to permanent vice provost for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. A full professor of food science, she previously served as assistant dean of online programs for the College of Agriculture. She currently serves as a Showalter Faculty Scholar, the director of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Safety, and a senior research fellow with the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy.

Dr. Oliver is a cum laude graduate of the University of Wyoming, where she earned dual-bachelor’s degrees in microbiology and molecular biology, respectively. She holds a Ph.D. in food science with a speciality in food microbiology and minors in epidemiology and microbiology from Cornell University.

Jennifer Hunter has been appointed acting associate vice president of land-grant engagement for the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment at the University of Kentucky. A faculty member since 2001, she currently serves as assistant director of the family and consumer sciences program and director of the School of Human and Environmental Sciences.

Dr. Hunter holds three degrees from the University of Kentucky: a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics, a master’s degree in vocational education, and a Ph.D. in family studies.