Five Women Taking on New Administrative Responsibilities at U.S. Universities

Lalia Rach was named associate dean of the College of Management and director of the School of Hospitality Leadership at the University of Wisconsin Stoudt. For 15 years, Dr. Rach was the divisional dean of the Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management at New York University. She is also the former dean of the School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Administration at the University of New Haven in Connecticut and the former director of the graduate program in tourism at George Washington University.

Dr. Rach is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Platteville. She holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, and an educational doctorate from George Washington University.

Carrie R. Norman was appointed communications manager for the Division of Administrative Services at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She was the director of marketing at the John Marshall Law School in Atlanta.

Norman is a graduate of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina, and holds a master’s degree in organizational development and project management from Illinois State University.

MaryFrances McCourt was named interim vice president and chief financial officer for Indiana University in Bloomington. She has been serving as university treasurer. She will begin her new job on January 1 but also continue in her role of treasurer, managing the university’s investments and debt. She has been on the staff at the university since 2005.

McCourt is a graduate of Duke University and holds an MBA from Case Western Reserve University.

VerJanis Peoples was appointed interim executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at Southern University and A&M College. She has been serving as dean of the College of Education and professor of curriculum and instruction.

Dr. Peoples holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Kansas State University.

Maria T. Zuber, the E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics, was named vice president for research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Zuber was chair of the MIT’s department of earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences from 2003 to 2011. She has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1995.

Dr. Zuber is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Brown University.