New Administrative Appointments for Six Women in Higher Education

Patrese Atine was named the inaugural assistant vice president for Indigenous and Native American Affairs at Colorado State University, effective March 1. Atine most recently worked as director of congressional and federal relations at the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.

Atine is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and earned a master’s degree in education, policy, planning, and administration from Boston University.

Catherine Didion is the new senior director of development for the College of Engineering at Boise State University in Idaho. Most recently, she served as the vice president of The Didion Group, an international consulting firm where she focused on science and engineering clients. From 2018 to 2020, Didion was the executive director of the Women in Engineering Pro-Active Network, a nonprofit organization committed to increasing the number of women in engineering.

Didion is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Lauren Di Monte will join Yale University Library in March in the newly created position of associate university librarian for research and learning. She has been serving as the associate dean for learning, research, and digital strategies at the University of Rochester in New York.

Di Monte holds a bachelor’s degree in visual studies and a master’s degree in information from the University of Toronto. She earned a second master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from York University in Toronto.

Lou Avotri has been promoted to associate vice president and executive director of student success at Talladega College in Alabama. She was the director of student success at the college. Earlier, Dr. Avotri served as director of student affairs and retention coordinator at the United States Sports Academy in Daphne, Alabama.

Dr. Avotri earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in business education from North Carolina Central University. She holds a doctorate in higher education administration from North Carolina State University.

Christina Kline will become the new executive director for disability management at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina on February 1. She has been serving as the director and ADA coordinator for the Equity, Civil Rights, and Title IX Office at the University of Michigan. Before joining the staff at the University of Michigan, she served as an associate attorney at a Michigan law firm and as a legal fellow for the Michigan American Civil Liberties Union.

Kline is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where she majored in English. She earned a juris doctorate at the University of Illinois.

Neelam Bharti was appointed associate dean of research and learning services for Florida State University Libraries, effective February 3. Since 2018, she has been serving as the associate dean for liaison services and the senior librarian for chemistry, chemical engineering, material science, and engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Dr. Bharti earned a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Missouri. She holds a doctoral degree in bio-medicinal chemistry from Jamia Millia Islamia in India and worked as a postdoctoral scientist at the University of Florida.