Seven Women Who Have Been Assigned New Administrative Tasks in Academia

Patricia A. Sullivan, associate dean for outreach in the College of Engineering at New Mexico State University, was elected chair of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.

Dr. Sullivan holds a bachelor’s degree in biology, a master’s degree in public utility economics, and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering, all from New Mexico State University.

Cynthia Sides was named director of the Office of Industry Engagement at the University of Arkansas. She has worked in the Office of the Provost for Research and Economic Development at the university since 2013.

Dr. Sides is a graduate of Arkansas Tech University, where she double majored in chemistry and English. She holds a Ph.D. in chemistry and biochemistry from the University of Arkansas.

Debra Lee Polley was promoted to vice president for finance and administration at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York. She joined the staff at the college in 1994 as an accountant and most recently was associate vice president for finance.

Polley is a certified public accountant. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the State University of New York at Oneonta.

Nancy Strickland Fields was appointed curator and director of the Southeast Indian Museum on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. She was the education coordinator at the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum in Oklahoma City.

Fields is a graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She holds a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Susanna Pearlstein was named director of the Matanuska Experiment and Extension Center of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She has been conducting postdoctoral research for the Environmental Protection Agency in Oregon.

Dr. Pearlstein earned a Ph.D. in soil, water, and environmental science at the University of Arizona.

Kim Tobin was promoted to vice president for university advancement at Colorado State University, effective July 1. She joined the staff at the university in 2003 as director of development for the College of Natural Resources.

Tobin hopes to complete her Ph.D. at Colorado State University next year.

Sonye Randolph was named equal opportunity and Title IX investigator in the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Compliance at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. She previously worked for the Guilford County School System in North Carolina.

Randolph is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She holds a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a law degree from North Carolina Central University in Durham.