Myra Blanco, director of advancement, partnerships, and outreach at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute has been named senior faculty fellow for the Office of Research and Innovation. In this role, Dr. Blanco will provide leadership for increasing diversity, inclusion, and empowerment of faculty and staff across Virginia Tech’s research and innovation enterprise.
Dr. Blanco received her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Puerto Rico. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in industrial and systems engineering from Virginia Tech.
Joyce Sackey has been named the inaugural chief diversity and inclusion officer and associate dean at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Since 2018, she has served as associate provost and chief diversity officer at the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.
A native of Accra, Ghana, Dr. Sackey holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a medical degree from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.
Stephanie Potts was promoted to chief diversity officer at Danville Area Community College in Illinois. She has been on the staff at the college for the past 12 years, most recently serving as the director of the college’s counseling and advisement department.
Potts is a graduate of Danville Area Community College. She earned a master’s degree in counseling from Eastern Illinois University.
Ufuoma C. Abiola has been named the inaugural associate university librarian for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Princeton University Library. Dr. Abiola most recently served as the inaugural executive director for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Columbia Business School in New York City.
Dr. Abiola is a graduate of Boston College, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Roosevelt University in Chicago and a master’s degree and a doctorate in education from the University of Pennsylvania.
Braswell comes to her new appointment with extensive leadership experience in state government, including her current role as general counsel to Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont. In her new role, she will provide strategic oversight for the 16 campuses within Connecticut's public higher education system.
Jennifer Gaither, a lawyer by training, has been a Sullivan University faculty member for the past 25 years. She most recently served as the university's associate provost.
Dr. Crowley has served as provost at Ohio Wesleyan University since 2020. She is slated to become the nineteenth president of Kalamazoo College on July 1.
The three women named to provost positions are Nancy Marchand-Martella at the University of Northern Colorado, Lise Youngblade at Colorado State University, and Randi Storch at Western Oregon University.
Although it was initially founded as school for women, the University of Montevallo has never had a woman president. Now the university has reached a historic milestone and selected selected Michelle R. Johnston to serve as its next president.
The selected candidate should have expertise and experience in theoretical models in labor and public economics as well as in microeconometrics and programming.