Sophie Rohnke was named vice president for legal affairs and government relations, general counsel, and secretary to the board of trustees at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. A partner in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Rohnke has advised organizations facing complex legal, regulatory, governance, and risk management challenges throughout her career. She previously served as outside counsel to Southern Methodist University.
Rohnke holds a bachelor’s degree in jurisprudence from the University of Oxford in England and a master of laws degree from Harvard Law School.
Kasey Daniel is the new executive director for university advising at Ohio University. Daniel has more than a decades of experience in higher education. Most recently, she was director of academic advocacy and case management at Ohio University’s Allen Center. Earlier, she held positions at Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio and the University of California, Davis.
Daniel received both her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her master’s degree in college student personnel from Ohio University.
Joelle L. Rollins-Kent is the new director of residence life and housing at South Carolina State University. Rollins-Kent has prior leadership roles at Georgia State University, Clark Atlanta University, and the University of Cincinnati. Most recently, she was interim director of residence life and university housing at the College of Coastal Georgia.
Rollins-Kent received her bachelor of social work degree and her master’s degree in education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Mandy Marney is director of SDSU Extension and associate dean of the South Dakota State University College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences. She has extensive experience in higher education extension. Prior to her new role, she worked in extension at the University of Wyoming, Kansas State University, the University of Missouri, and the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station.
Dr. Marney is a three-time graduate of the University of Missouri, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in agricultural journalism, her master’s degree in environment and behavior, and her doctorate in human environmental sciences.
Nicole Tatman was named the inaugural director of the Center for Hunting and Conservation at the University of Montana. For the past decade, Tatman has been the big game program manager for the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish. In her new role, she will facilitate research that strengthens hunting’s role in conservation and mentor students in the university’s College of Forestry and Conservation.
Dr. Tatman holds a Ph.D. in wildlife, aquatic, and wildlands science and management.
Lizzy McCright was promoted to vice president and general counsel at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. McCright has served as the university’s deputy general counsel since January 2025. Earlier, she spent two decades with Kohl’s, Inc., where she ultimately rose to the position of senior vice president and deputy general counsel. Her legal expertise spans artificial intelligence law and policy; privacy and data security; crisis management; real estate; intellectual property matters; labor and employment law; contracts and commercial transactions; regulatory and nonprofit compliance; and corporate governance.
McCright earned her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and her law degree from Marquette Law School.
JoEllen Lindner has been named vice president of admissions, student financial services, and marketing at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. Most recently, Lindner served as chief operating officer for Blessed Sacrament Parishes in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Her background in higher education includes prior enrollment leadership roles at Lourdes University in Ohio, Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, Cottey College in Missouri, Mansfield University in Pennsylvania, and Presentation College in South Dakota.
Lindner is a graduate of South Dakota State University, where she majored in broadcast journalism. She earned her master’s degree in organizational leadership from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.
Rashida Willard was promoted to vice president for equity and student services at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon. Before her new role, she served as the community college’s interim associate vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion. She previously held administrative roles with Clark College in Washington and Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.
Dr. Willard holds an associate’s degree in organizational dynamics and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Warner Pacific University in Portland, Oregon. She earned an MBA from Concordia University in Portland and a doctorate in education with a concentration in leadership, inquiry, and continuous improvement from Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin.
Amy Yancey has been named vice president for university relations at Santa Clara University in California. Yancey most recently served as president and chief executive officer at the University of Connecticut Foundation, where she led fundraising, alumni engagement, and endowment management for the university and UConn Health. Before that role, she was vice president for development at Boston College. Yancey has also served as associate vice president for development at the University of Virginia.
Yancey holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s degree in plant sciences and agricultural economics from the University of Tennessee.
Debbie Murray has transitioned to the role of senior ambassador in the Office of the President at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. Dr. Murray had been serving as the university’s provost since 2020. She first joined the faculty in 1980 an assistant professor of education and later spent 25 years as the founding dean of the Helen DeVos College of Education. She was named vice president for academic affairs in 2013.
Dr. Murray is an alumna of Lee University, where she majored in mathematics. She holds a master’s degree in special education and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of Tennessee.
Mandie R. Pritchard is associate vice president for student affairs at Santa Fe Community College in New Mexico. Pritchard has extensive experience in higher education leadership, including prior student-centered roles with the University of Oregon and the University of New Mexico. Most recently, she was dean of student supports at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon.
Pritchard is a graduate of Portland State University, where she majored in health education. She holds a master’s degree in counseling education with an emphasis in multicultural and career counseling from the University of New Mexico.
Kerry Jablonski is assistant director for outreach and programming in the Academic Advising and Planning Center at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Jablonski’s background in academia includes past positions in advising and student support. Before her new role, she worked for the Medical University of South Carolina, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, the University of South Florida, the University of Miami, and San Diego State University.
Jablonski holds a bachelor’s degree in health science from Keene State College in New Hampshire and a master’s degree in education from the University of Miami.
Angela Fentiman was named vice president for strategic brand communications at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. Fentiman comes to her new role from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was senior director of communications and development for the Teaching and Learning Center and associate director of executive communications for the university. She also has prior teaching experience at Woodbury University in Burbank and California Lutheran University.
Fentiman is a graduate of California Lutheran University, where she majored in communication studies. She holds a master of public administration degree from California State University, Northridge, and a doctorate in global leadership and change from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.
Ying Iverson has returned to Capella University as the institution’s next chief academic officer. Iverson previously worked at Capella from 2015 to 2023, ultimately serving as associate provost and vice president of academic and faculty affairs. More recently, she was academic officer and provost at Westcliff University in Irvine, California.
Iverson is a graduate of South China Normal University, where she majored in Chinese language and literature. She holds a master’s degree in comparative and international development education and a Ph.D. in human resource development from the University of Minnesota.