Fifteen Women Who Have Been Appointed to Administrative Posts at Colleges and Universities

Hima Vatti is the new assistant vice president for equity and equity investigations and Title IX coordinator at the California Institute of Technology. Vatti has been an associate general counsel at CalTech since 2009.

Vatti holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School.

Natasha H. Jeter was appointed assistant vice chancellor for wellness and student success at the University of Mississippi. She has been serving as assistant dean of health, wellness and prevention services at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina.

Dr. Jeter is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she majored in biology. She holds a master’s degree from the University at North Carolina at Greensboro and a Ph.D. from Walden University.

Karen Fite was named interim vice president of the Enterprise Innovation Institute at the Georgia Institute of technology. She is the associate vice president of the institute and director of its business and industry services programs.

Fite is a graduate of Georgia Tech, where she majored in health systems. She holds an MBA from the University of Miami in Florida.

Lyndsay Cumberland is the new director of alumni relations and donor engagement at the Mississippi University for Women. She has served on the alumni relation staff since 2011.

Cumberland is a graduate of the Mississippi University for Women, where she majored in paralegal studies.

Dana Willis-Henderson is the new Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital administrator at Tuskegee University in Alabama. Dr. Willis-Henderson previously served as medical director for Randall Road Animal Hospital of Crystal Lake in Illinois and Huntley Animal Care in Huntley, Illinois.

Dr. Willis-Henderson earned a doctor of veterinary medicine degree at Tuskegee University in 2002.

Sage Woodham has been named assistant director of athletics for international operations and senior woman administrator at Southern Arkansas University. She most recently served as the pitching coach for the women’s softball team at the University of  North Georgia.

Woodham is a graduate of Oklahoma Panhandle State University where she majored in social science with a minor in natural science. She holds a master’s degree in kinesiology from Augusta State University in Georgia.

Emily Almas has been named assistant vice provost and director of admissions at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She previously served as associate dean and director of recruitment at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.

Almas is a graduate of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where she majored in history. She holds a master’s degree in higher education from Harvard University.

Imaani El-Burki has been named assistant dean and director of the Intercultural Center at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. She most recently served as dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She returns to Swarthmore after previously serving as a graduate intern at the college’s Black Cultural Center in 2008.

Dr. El-Burki is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, where she majored in communication. She holds a master’s degree in communication and a Ph.D. in communication, culture, and media both from Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Latoyia Smith has been promoted to retention specialist in the Office of Academic Affairs at Alcorn State University in Mississippi. She previously served as an administrative assistant in the registrar’s office at the university.

Smith holds an MBA from Alcorn State University.

Chris Foley Pilsner has been named chief relationship officer for university relations at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She was chief marketing officer and assistant dean in the university’s Isenberg School of Management.

Pilsner is a graduate of Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where she majored in English, women’s studies, and political science. She holds an MBA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Andrea M. Tompkins has been named the inaugural art outreach specialist at the Windgate Center of Art and Design at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She has served as the manager for the Arkansas Arts Center’s Museum School for the past 12 years.

Tompkins is a graduate of Hendrix College in Conway Arkansas, where she majored in art. She holds a master’s degree in education with a focus on educational leadership from Northwest Missouri State University. She is also currently working towards a master’s degree in art history from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Karla Trautman has been named director of the extension service at South Dakota State University. She has been serving in the role on an interim basis since 2016. Prior to that appointment, she served as associate director for five years.

Trautman holds a bachelor’s degree in home economics extension and a master’s degree in educational administration with an emphasis on adult and higher education both from South Dakota State University.

Mara Hermano has been named vice president of institutional research and planning at Boston College. She currently serves as vice president of integrated planning at the Rhode Island School of Design.

Hermano is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, where she majored in art history. She holds a master’s degree in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.

Deidra Hill has been named vice president for government relations and external affairs at Alvernia University in Reading, Pennsylvania. She previously served as the university’s vice president for marketing and external relations.

Dr. Hill is a graduate of South Carolina State University where she majored in English. She holds a master’s degree in journalism and public affairs from American University in Washington, D.C. and a doctorate in higher education administration from Morgan State University in Baltimore.

Mary W.L. Lee has been named vice president and special assistant to the president at Midwestern University in Downers Grove, Illinois. She has worked for the university for 25 years, most recently as vice president and chief academic officer for pharmacy and optometry education.

Dr. Lee holds a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and a doctor of pharmacy degree both from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science.