Cynthia Pickett has been appointed the presidential associate for inclusion and chief diversity officer at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She was associate provost for diversity, equity, and inclusion and an associate professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago. Earlier, she was associate vice-provost for faculty equity and inclusion at the University of California, Davis.
Dr. Pickett is a graduate of Stanford University, where she majored in psychology. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in social psychology from the Ohio State University.
Tracie Ransom is the inaugural assistant dean for equity, diversity, and inclusion at Tulane Law School in New Orleans. Ransom practiced complex litigation for nearly a decade with AmLaw 200-firm Porter Wright in Columbus, Ohio, first as an associate and later as the first Black woman to be elected partner. She then left private practice to become associate general counsel and department director for Edward Jones, a Fortune 500 investment and financial advisory firm headquartered in St. Louis.
Ransom is a graduate of the University of Alabama. She earned a juris doctorate at the University of Illinois College of Law.
Gina Dent is the inaugural associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the Humanities Division at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is an associate professor of feminist studies, history of consciousness, and legal studies at UCSC. Dr. Dent is co-author of Abolition. Feminism. Now.(Haymarket Books, 2022).
Dr. Dent is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in English and comparative literature from Columbia University in New York City.
Dr. Soufleris, a three-time alumna of the State University of New York System, has more than 35 years of higher education experience spanning student affairs, enrollment management, retention, and student success initiatives.
Most recently, Dr. Van Vlerah served as vice president for student success and institutional strategy at Manchester University in Indiana. She is slated to become the fifteenth president of Notre Dame of Maryland University on July 6.
Dr. Egan comes to her new role as president of Bennington College from Connecticut College, where she has been serving as the Fuller-Maathai Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectionality Studies, dean of the faculty, and chief academic officer.
Dr. Pfluger has spent the past year as Bakersfield College's interim president. She previously served as vice chancellor of educational services and student success at the Kern Community College District.
Dr. Geneco comes to her new role from Tufts University in Massachusetts, where she has served as provost for the past four years. She is slated become the University at Buffalo's first woman president on August 10.