Thirteen Women Named to New Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Michele T. Villinski, the Hiram L. Jome Professor of Economics and Management at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, was given the additional responsibility of director of the Robert C. McDermond Center for Management and Entrepreneurship. She will take on her new assignment beginning on July 1.

Professor Villinski will also serve as director of the Management Fellows Program. This effort was established in 1980 and offers a semester-long paid internship for students in any major seeking a career in business.

Karen Ely Sanders was promoted to the post of chief diversity officer at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University’s Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke. She has been on the staff at Virginia Tech for more than 12 years.

Dr. Sanders holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Virginia State University. She earned a doctorate in developmental education at the University of Arkansas.

Valerie Taylor, the Royce E. Wisenbaker Professor in the department of computer science and engineering and the senior associate dean for academic affairs at Texas A&M University, has been chosen to serve a two-year term on the Committee on Women in Science Engineering and Medicine of the National Research Council.

Dr. Taylor earned her bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering and a master’s degree in computer engineering from Purdue University. She received her Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Deborah M. McCreery is the new vice president for advancement at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. She was vice president for institutional advancement at the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown, New Jersey.

McCreery holds a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from Temple University in Philadelphia.

Monica Terrell Leach was appointed associate vice chancellor for the Division of Enrollment Management at North Carolina Central University in Durham. She was director of enrollment management and assistant dean for academic affairs at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

Dr. Leach is a graduate of Louisiana State University. She holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in education from North Carolina State University.

Kimberly Andrews Espy was named senior vice president for research at the University of Arizona. She has been serving as vice president for research and innovation and dean of the Graduate School at the University of Oregon.

Dr. Espy is a graduate of Rice University in Houston, Texas. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Houston and is a licensed clinical psychologist.

Patricia H. Cronin was named director of athletics and recreation at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. She has served in the post on an interim basis for the past eight months and has been on the athletics staff at the university since 2010.

Cronin is a graduate of Kentucky State University, where she majored in biology. She holds a master’s degree in education from Dowling College in Oakdale, New York.

Yvonne Harris was appointed vice provost for research and scholarship at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, effective July 1. Currently, she is associate vice president for research administration at Chicago State University.

Dr. Harris holds a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular radiation biology from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

Huapei Chen is the new chief information officer at the University of Nevada at Reno. She was senior director of systems, services, and infrastructure at University of Texas at Austin.

Chen is a graduate of Morningside College in Iowa. She earned an MBA from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in computer science from the State University of New York.

Deborah L. Sheely is the new director of Cooperative Extension at the University of Rhode Island. She was the assistant director of the Institute of Food Production and Sustainability at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Dr. Sheely is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Missouri. She holds a Ph.D. in plant biology from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Bethany Pace is the new acting assistant dean of the Honors College at Towson University in Maryland. Pace joined the Honors College in May 2012 as director of Academic Support and Co-Curricular Programs

Pace holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in counselor education and higher education administration from Pennsylvania State University.

Mollie Marcoux was appointed the Ford Family Director of Athletics at Princeton University, effective August 4. She has been serving as executive vice president and executive director of Chelsea Piers, a 400,000-square-foot sports complex in Connecticut.

Marcoux is a 1991 graduate of Princeton University, where she majored in history. She was a four-year varsity letter winner in soccer and ice hockey.

Susan J. Wilson is the new executive director of career development at the University of Georgia School of Law. She was a partner in the Atlanta office of the law firm Alston & Bird.

Wilson is a summa cum laude graduate of Georgia State University, where she majored in business administration. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, where she was editor-in-chief of the Georgia Law Review.