Colleges and Universities Announced the Appointments of 10 Women to Administrative Positions

Patricia Sagasti Suppes has been named the new director of global education at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York. She previously served as director of international programs and experiential term at Ferrum College in Virginia, where she also was an associate professor of Spanish.

A native of Lima, Peru, Dr. Sagasti Suppes holds master’s and doctoral degrees in romance languages and literatures from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Smita Ruzicka has been named vice president for student affairs for Middlebury College in Vermont. Since 2018, she has served as dean of student life at Johns Hopkins Univerity in Baltimore. Earlier, she was the assistant vice president for campus life at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Dr. Ruzicka earned a bachelor’s in psychology and English from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Texas State University and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Maisha Kelly was named director of athletics at Drexel University in Philadelphia. She has been serving as the senior associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. She joined Bucknell in 2010 after serving as assistant director of championships at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis.

Kelly is a graduate of St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, where she was a track and field athlete. She earned a master’s degree in sports management at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Jennifer Claybrook has been selected as director of athletics and campus recreation at Mississippi University for Women. She served as athletic director at LaGrange College in Georgia from 2011 until May 2021 and was head softball coach for 19 seasons.

Claybrook holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in middle grades education from LaGrange College.

Ann Alquist, a media leader with broad public radio experience, has been named the executive director and general manager of the public radio station operated by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She was the assistant general manager at a public radio station in Providence, Rhode Island.

Alquist is a graduate of Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. She holds a master’s degree in media from Ohio University.

Jan E. Duncan was named vice president for academic affairs at Texas College in Tyler, Texas. She was director of education at the Museum of African Life and Culture in Riverdale, Georgia. Earlier, she was a dean and faculty member at Jarvis Chrisitan College in Hawkins, Texas.

Dr. Duncan is a four-time graduate of Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, earning a bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees, and a Ph.D.

Kristen Eshleman was appointed vice president for library and information technology services at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. She has been on the staff at Davidson College in North Carolina for the past 20 years, most recently serving as the director of innovation initiatives.

Eshleman holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill and a master’s degree in sociocultural anthropology from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Kelly McMurray is the new associate vice president for strategic planning and institutional effectiveness at Florida A&M University. Since 2019, she has been the vice president for institutional effectiveness at Albany State University in Georgia.

Dr. McMurray earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Clark Atlanta University. She holds a master’s degree in applied mathematics from North Carolina A&T State University and a  Ph.D. in educational policy studies, with a concentration in research, measurement, and statistics from Georgia State University.

Sandra Cannon, chief data officer at the Univesity of Rochester in New York, has been promoted to vice provost for data governance. Before joining the university in 2018, she served as assistant vice president and economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Dr. Cannon is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine. She earned a master’s degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Ph.D. n economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Breona M. Hayes has been named Title IX coordinator at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Before joining A&T, Hayes served as CEO of The Hayes Solutions Group, which she founded in 2019. She is the former Title IX coordinator at St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Hayes graduated from Florida A&M University with a bachelor’s degree in health science-physical therapy. She holds master’s degrees in mental health counseling and school counseling from Webster University in Missouri and is pursuing her Ph.D. in urban higher education at Jackson State University.