New Administrative Positions in Higher Education for 14 Women

Clare Leinweber has been named executive director of the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale University. She was managing director of the Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

Leinweber holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a master’s degree in human development and psychology both from the University of Chicago, and a master of public health degree in global health from the University of Pennsylvania.

Margaret “Maggie” Shouse has been named an enrollment counselor at Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri. She most recently served as an integrated health specialist at Compass Health Network.

Shouse is a graduate of Park University in Parkville, Missouri, where she majored in social psychology.

Anna Michelle Brandt has been named vice president and hospital chief of staff for the University of Florida Health Shands. She has served as associate vice president of operations for UF Health Shands since 2011.

Brandt is a graduate of Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama, where she majored in biology. She holds a master’s degree in health administration and an MBA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Brigette A. Bryant has been named vice president for development and alumni relations at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania. She was vice chancellor for university advancement at the City University of New York.

Bryant holds a bachelor’s degree in music production and engineering from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

Dana Harris has been named associate vice chancellor for finance at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She has more than 15 years of experience in various roles at the university, most recently as senior associate athletic director of internal operations.

Harris is a graduate of Elon University in North Carolina, where she majored in business administration and minored in accounting.

Kimberly Hewitt has been named vice president for institutional equity at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She currently serves as vice provost for institutional equity at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Hewitt is a graduate of Stanford University. She holds a juris doctorate from the University of Minnesota Law School.

Rita L. Walters has been named vice president of development at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Most recently she served as chief development officer for Catholic Charities of Maryland and vice president of advancement at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Walters is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey, where she majored in accounting. She holds a master’s degree in liberal arts from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Erin Oliver has been named assistant vice president for institutional equity at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. She was director and title IX coordinator at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Oliver is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame where she majored in American studies and minored in anthropology. She holds a law degree from Michigan State University.

Patricia Carocci has been named senior associate vice president of alumni relations and annual giving at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She most recently served as director of advancement at The Spence School in New York.

Carocci holds a bachelor’s degree from Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, and a master’s degree from Villanova University in Pennsylvania.

Mercedes Ramirez Fernandez has been named vice president for equity and inclusion at the University of Rochester in New York. She currently serves as associate vice provost at Virginia Tech.

Dr. Fernandez is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree in counseling from the University of Iowa and a doctorate in higher education from the University of Pennsylvania.

Renee Felts has been named assistant vice president for academic initiatives and continuing education at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She currently serves as vice president for institutional advancement and workforce development and executive director of the foundation at Paul D. Camp Community College in Franklin, Virginia.

Dr. Felts holds a bachelor’s degree from Barton College in Wilson, North Carolina, a bachelor’s degree from Chowan University in Murfreesboro, North Carolina, a master’s degree from Old Dominion University, and a Ph.D. with an emphasis in higher education leadership from Northcentral University in San Diego.

Anita Azarenko has been named interim vice provost for the division of university outreach and engagement and director of the Oregon State University Extension Service. For the past three years, she has served as the university’s associate vice president for university facilities, infrastructure, and operations.

Dr. Azarenko holds a Ph.D. in horticultural science from the University of Maryland.

Rolanda Burney has been named interim vice chancellor for student affairs and campus life at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She most recently served as a consultant for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Dr. Burney is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she majored in English. She holds a master’s degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and a Ph.D. in organizational leadership from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Leigh Wood has been named general manager of KUAF 91.3 FM, the radio station based at the University of Arkansas. She has been serving as the station’s membership director.

Wood holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree both in English both from the University of Arkansas.