Susan Monagan has been appointed executive director of the Collins Center for the Arts at the University of Maine. Monagan most recently served as executive director of the Smith Center for the Arts in Geneva, New York. Earlier in her career, she spent 12 years with Ithaca College in New York, where she taught arts management courses and worked with students in the department of theatre arts.
Monagan is a graduate of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where she majored in English. She holds a master’s degree in community and rural development from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and a master’s degree in communications from Ithaca College.
Sherria N. King was named executive vice president for academic strategy and student outcomes at Southwest Tennessee Community College. She is the former dean of humanities, social sciences, and mathematics at the college. Earlier Dr. King was the president of the Remington College campus in Memphis, Tennessee.
Dr. King is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree in forensic psychology from Argosy University and a Ph.D. in psychology from Walden University.
Amanda Canales was named the inaugural executive director of Rio Grande Valley external relations at the University of Houston. With more than 15 years of experience in education, Dr. Canales most recently served as senior principal for IDEA Public Schools. Earlier in tenure there, she was assistant principal of instruction and international baccalaureate coordinator. Dr. Canales previously worked for the International Museum of Art & Sciences as director of education and public programs.
Dr. Canales received her bachelor’s degree in history and political science and her master’s degree in history from the University of Texas-Pan American. She earned her doctorate in industrial and organizational psychology from Adler University.
Jamie Steiger was appointed executive director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center at the Rutgers School of Nursing. She has been serving in the role on an interim basis since October 2025. Prior to her interim appointment, Steiger served as the center’s director of administration and finance for 12 years. Earlier, she held student affairs and program leadership positions at New York University and Stanford Universit
Steiger holds an MBA and a master of public health degree.
Talibah M. Bayles was named director of the Women’s Business Center at Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama. Bayles comes to Miles with more than 18 years of experience in strategic management, entrepreneurship support, and small business capital readiness. She is the founder of TMB Tax & Financial Services, a tax strategy and financial advisory firm in Birmingham, Alabama.
Bayles is a graduate of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She holds a master’s degree from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.
Ellen Herbst has been appointed vice president for finance and administration at the University of Delaware. Since 2017, Herbst has served as senior vice chancellor for administration and finance at the University System of Maryland. Earlier, she was chief financial officer and assistant secretary for administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Herbst is an alumna of the University of Delaware, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in economics and accounting. She received her MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
Janny Manasse was promoted to senior assistant dean of college relations and development for the College of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. Manasse has served in the role on an interim basis since April 2025. She first joined the university in 2022 as senior director of development for the principal gifts and strategic initiatives team. Manasse has also held senior roles in development at the California Institute of Technology, the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
A two-time graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Manasse holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with concentrations in marketing and international business and a master’s degree in instructional leadership with a concentration in higher education administration.
Traevena Byrd was named vice president and general counsel at George Washington University. She comes to her new role from American University in Washington, D.C., where she has been serving as vice president, general counsel, and board secretary. Her other experience in academia includes senior legal positions with Towson University in Maryland and Ithaca College in New York. Byrd has also served as director of the Commission on the State of African Americans for the State of Iowa.
Byrd received both her bachelor’s degree in African American world studies and her juris doctorate from the University of Iowa.
Nicole J. Sakraida has been appointed vice president for strategic growth, marketing, and communications for St. Ambrose University and Mount Mercy University, which are slated to merge into one institution later this year. Sakraida has more than two decades of experience in higher education leadership, including roles in enrollment management, student success, institutional growth, and mission-centered change. She most recently served as dean of enrollment management at Rouge Community College in Oregon.
Sakraida holds a bachelor’s degree from Seattle University and a master’s degree in education from Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Sarah Sussman is the assistant university librarian for collections and public services in the humanities, area studies, and social sciences at Stanford University in California. Sussman first joined Stanford Libraries in 2002 as curator of the French and Italian collections. More recently, she was head of the humanities and area studies resource group.
Dr. Sussman is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she majored in history. She holds a master of library and information science degree from Simmons University in Boston and a Ph.D. in European history from Stanford University.
Michelle McDonald was named associate dean of preclinical education for the proposed School of Osteopathic Medicine at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. Dr. McDonald has spent the past 25 years with Baptist Health Sciences University in Memphis, Tennessee. Most recently, she served as the senior associate dean for administration, operations, and services for the university’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Dr. McDonald is a graduate of the University of North Florida, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree in chemical and life sciences from the University of Maryland and a doctor of public health degree in epidemiology from Capella University.
Gita Manaktala has been appointed executive director of Columbia University Press. Manaktala comes to Columbia after more than three decades of service with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. Most recently, she served as the executive editor at large. Earlier in her tenure, she was the editorial director.
Manaktala earned her bachelor’s degree in English and American literature from Harvard University.