Deidra Hill is the inaugural vice chancellor for marketing and communications at Rutgers University-Newark. With more than 25 years of communications leadership experience in higher education, Dr. Hill has been serving as director of advancement communications at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Before joining Howard, she held vice presidential roles at Alvernia University in Reading, Pennsylvania, and the City College of New York.
Dr. Hill is a graduate of South Carolina State University, where she majored in English. She holds a master’s degree in communication from American University and a doctorate in higher education leadership from Morgan State University in Baltimore.
Colette Casavant is the new executive director for university advising at Washington State University. Dr. Casavant currently serves as director of student success and academic advising in the university’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. Earlier, she held leadership roles in advising and student success at Seattle University.
Dr. Casavant is a graduate of Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where she majored in sociology and anthropology. She holds a master’s degree in pastoral studies and a doctorate in educational leadership from Seattle University.
Jasmine Gurley is the new senior director of public relations at Howard University. Gurley comes to Howard from Morehouse College in Atlanta, where she served in several leadership roles. Most recently, she was senior director of brand marketing and communications and press secretary to the president. Gurley also served as interim chief of staff to the president at Morehouse.
Gurley is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications, with a concentration in public relations.
Christy Wyskiel, chief innovation officer at Johns Hopkins University, has been selected to lead a new university-wide effort through the John Hopkins Technology Venture to build new and deeper relationships with corporate partners and to better support faculty in their pursuit of those partnerships. Wyskiel first joined Johns Hopkins in 2013 as an advisor to the president for innovation and entrepreneurship. Before transitioning to higher education, she worked in healthcare investing and biotech entrepreneurship for nearly two decades.
Wyskiel holds a bachelor’s degree from Williams College in Massachusetts and an MBA from New York University.
Kelly Scruggs was selected to serve as interim vice president of finances and administrative services at Murray State University in Kentucky. Scruggs is a partner of Williams, Williams & Lentz, an accounting firm in Paducah, Kentucky. A professional accountant for more than two decades, she focuses her practice on small business and individual income taxes and consulting.
Scruggs earned her bachelor’s degree in business with a concentration in accounting from Murray State University.
Lauren D. Myers has been appointed chief human resources and compliance officer at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. Myers comes to her new role with more than three decades of global human resources and talent management experience. Her background spans strategic talent management, organizational restructuring, labor relations, executive recruiting, and sports development programming.
Myers received her bachelor’s degree from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and her MBA in human resources development from Capella University.
Jen Hykes Willson is director of strategic initiatives for the division of student affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. Wilson comes to her appointment with two decades of professional experience. Most recently, she was chief of staff at Instruction Partners, a national education nonprofit. Before that, she spent 14 years with Teach for America, where she moved through the ranks from teacher advisor to senior managing director.
Wilson holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and mass communication from Towson University in Maryland and a master’s degree in public policy and management from the University of Pittsburgh.