A Host of New Appointments of Women to Key Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Michelle K. Mueller was named associate vice president for economic development and community/corporate alliances at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She has been serving as dean of workforce development at St. Clair County Community College.

Mueller is a graduate of Brevard College and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. She earned a master’s degree at Michigan State University is currently studying for a doctorate at Central Michigan University.

Deborah Dean was appointed associate dean for undergraduate education at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She is a professor and associate chair of the English department at the university. She has been on the BYU faculty since 1999.

Dr. Dean holds a master’s degree from City University in Bellevue, Washington and a doctorate from Seattle Pacific University.

India Spartz was named director of special collections at the University of Arizona Libraries. She was senior archivist at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography at Harvard University.

Spartz is a graduate of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. She holds a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree in museum studies from University College in London.

Lori L. McMahon was selected as an associate director of the Center for Aging at the University of Alabama Birmingham. She is the director of the graduate program in neuroscience at the university. She has been on the faculty at UAB since 1998.

Dr. McMahon is a graduate of Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. She holds a Ph.D. from St. Louis University.

Catherine Porto was appointed executive director of the Clemson University Research Foundation. She was a senior vice president at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy in Golden, Colorado.

Porto holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Pittsburgh.

Tracy Adler was chosen as the inaugural director of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. The new art museum is expected to be completed this summer. Her appointment is effective on July 1. She is the former curator at the Hunter College Art Galleries in New York City.

Adler is a graduate of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. She holds a master’s degree in art history from Hunter College.

Mary Ann Hill was named interim executive director of the Alumnae Association at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. For 11 years, she was assistant vice president for public affairs at Wellesley College in suburban Boston.

Hill is a graduate of Wellesley College and earned a master’s degree at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Megan Granda was appointed the inaugural executive director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Duke University. She is the former executive director of the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Granda is a graduate of the University of Delaware. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Texas at Austin.

Susan L. Davies is the new vice president for university advancement and external relations at Kettering University in Flint, Michigan. She was vice president of university relations at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Previously, she was a development officer at Michigan State University.

Davies served for two years as chair of CFRE International, the credentialing body for fundraisers worldwide.

Sheila R. Johnson-Willis was named director for equal employment opportunity and affirmative action at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. Her appointment is effective in June. She has been serving as director of affirmative action compliance and Title IX coordinator at Indiana State University in Terre Haute.

Johnson-Willis is a graduate of Albion College in Michigan and the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.

Martha Kerner was appointed assistant vice chancellor for business services at the University of Wisconsin Madison. She has been serving in the Division of Administrative Services in the Wisconsin Department of Administration. She has 25 years of experience working for the Wisconsin state government.