Hamilton College, the highly rated liberal arts educational institution in Clinton, New York, has announced the hiring of eight new assistant professors. All eight of the new hires are women.
Tara M. Holman is an assistant professor of literature and creative writing. She writes and teaches about twentieth- and twenty-first-century African American and Black Atlantic literature and culture, with a particular focus on gender and sexuality. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English and international studies from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in English from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
T Kira Mahealani Madden is an assistant professor of literature and creative writing. A native Hawaiian, she is the author of the memoir Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019). She is a graduate of the Parsons School of Design & Eugene Lang College at the New School in New York City. She earned a master of fine arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York.
Amy Marvin was appointed assistant professor of women’s and gender studies. Her book Trans Fascination, which focuses on ruinous obsessions with trans people, is under contract with Oxford University Press. Dr. Marvin is a graduate of West Chester University in Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon.
Amy Moser was named an assistant professor of geosciences. Prior to joining the faculty at Hamilton, Dr. Moser was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a research associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She studies how rocks and minerals preserve a record of plate tectonics across Earth history. Dr. Moser is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree from Utah State University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Phyllis Pearson is a new assistant professor of philosophy. She was a postdoctoral researcher at Central European University in Vienna, Austria. Her research is focused on understanding what we ought to believe when faced with misleading information. Dr. Pearson is a graduate of the University of Toronto. She holds a master’s degree from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia.
Lindsey Pruett is an assistant professor of government. She studies the security sector, gender, and state-building processes, with a regional focus on francophone West Africa. Dr. Pruett is a graduate of Colby College in Waterville, Maine. She earned a master’s degree at the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. at Cornell University in New York. Her dissertation – “Soldiers and the Colonial State” – won the Janice N. and Milton J. Esman Prize for Best Dissertation in the Cornell government department.
Taveeshi Singh was appointed an assistant professor of women’s and gender studies. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto’s Center for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies. She is currently working on her book Domestic Exertions: Soldier-Servants, Military Elites, and Securitized Labor in India. Dr. Singh is a graduate of Delhi University in India. She holds a master’s degree from Teachers College at Columbia University and a Ph.D. from Syracuse University in New York.
Elena Tonc was appointed assistant professor of biology. Her research interests span immune regulation, inflammation, chronic pain, and cancer. At Hamilton, Dr. Tonc will investigate how altered immune responses to environmental chemicals may contribute to chronic vulvar pain. A graduate of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she majored in chemistry and biology, Dr. Tonc earned a Ph.D. in immunology at Washington University in St. Louis
Kimberly E. Walker, assistant professor of medical and molecular sciences at the University of Delaware, passed away on August 31. She was 60 years old.
Jie Deng is the Andrea B. Laporte Endowed Professor. She currently holds the Evan C. Thompson Term Chair for Excellence in Teaching. As a scholar, she specializes in head and neck cancer survivorship research, with a particular focus on lymphedema, an under-recognized late effect of cancer therapy. In addition her teaching position, she is faculty director of Penn Nursing’s Laboratory of Innovative & Translational Nursing Research and a senior fellow with the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics.
J. Margo Brooks Carthon is the Van Ameringen Chair in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. A Penn Nursing faculty member since 2010, she currently serves as the Tyson Family Endowed Chair for Gerontological Research, associate director of the Center for Health Outcomes & Policy Research and director of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing. With a focus on advancing health equity, her scholarship bridges the history of nursing, health services and outcomes research, and the social determinants of health.
Catherine McDonald is the Nightingale Professor in Honor of Nursing Veterans. Through her significant research on adolescent injury prevention, she has advanced the understanding of ways to prevent the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among adolescents. She holds several leadership roles at Penn, including the Dr. Hildegard Reynold Endowed Term Chair of Primary Care Nursing, chair of the department of family and community health, and co-director of the Penn Injury Science Center. She is also an affiliate in pediatric nursing in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine.
Bethami Dobkin, president of Westminster University in Utah, has announced she will retire at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year. According to the university, she is the longest-tenured university president in the state of Utah.
Mariana Katz is an assistant professor of history specializing in modern Latin America, with a focus on nineteenth-century Paraguay and the broader River Plate region. She is currently working on her first book, tentatively titled The Labor of the State: Unfree Workers and the Making of Paraguay’s First Republic (1811-1864). A native of Argentina, Dr. Katz began her academic journey at the University of Buenos Aires and received a Ph.D. in history from Columbia University in New York City.
Eve Eure is a transdisciplinary scholar whose work intersects Black studies and Native and Indigenous studies. Dr. Eure was an assistant professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York. Dr. Eure is currently working on a book, The Grammar of Kinship: Black and Native Intimacies in the Nineteenth Century. Dr. Eure is a graduate of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she majored in Portuguese and Brazilian studies. She holds master’s degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania.
Andrea Caban, an associate professor in the department of theatre and dance, is an actor, director, playwright and expert in voice, speech and accents. She served as head of voice and apeech at California State University Long Beach for 11 years. For over a decade, Caban has led the Knight-Thompson Speechwork Teacher Certification Program. She has also co-authored two widely used texts on inclusive speech and accent pedagogy for teachers. Caban earned a bachelor’s degree in theatre from University of South Florida and a master of fine arts degree in acting from the University of California, Irvine.
Alison O’Daniel, an associate professor in the department of visual arts, was an assistant professor of film at the California College of the Arts. She is a visual artist and filmmaker working across sound, moving image, sculpture, installation and performance. O’Daniel is hard of hearing, and her research, art practice, and teaching are informed by a deep investment in disability justice. She studied at the University of California, Irvine and received a bachelor of fine arts degree at the Cleveland Institute of Art in Ohio.
Jean Frantz Blackall, longtime faculty member at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, passed away on July 15. She was 97 years old.
Eugenia S. Vasileiadou has joined the Bryn Mawr College faculty as an assistant professor of chemistry. Centered on inorganic materials chemistry, her work aims to use structural synthetic chemistry for the discovery of new materials to realize a sustainable energy and environmental landscape.
Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones has joined the Emory University faculty as an assistant professor of theology and Africana studies. She comes to her new role from Boston College, where she was an assistant professor of theology and African and African diaspora studies. A scholar of Black religion, she recently published her first monograph, 
Shannon Wiltsey Stirman has been named co-director of the newly launched Center for Responsible and Effective AI Technology Enhancement of Treatments for PTSD at Stanford University in California. A full professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, she studies implementation science, evidence-based treatment for PTSD, depression, suicide prevention, and the use of technology to improve access to mental health interventions.
Amanda Kaltenberg has been named chair of the department of marine and environmental sciences at Savannah State University in Georgia. A faculty member since 2013, she teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in oceanography, fisheries, and data analysis methods. As manager of the Coastal Oceanography Lab, she studies bio-acoustic methods to study the biological and physical interactions in the oceans.
Federica Brandizzi is the new director of the Michigan State University Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory. Largely funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the lab researches photosynthetic organisms to discover how they work on the molecular level. Currently holding the rank of distinguished professor, Dr. Brandizzi has been a Michigan State faculty member in the department of plant biology for nearly two decades.
Debra Sullivan has been named a university distinguished professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center. The distinction is the university’s highest faculty honor. Currently, Dr. Sullivan serves as chair of the department of dietetics and nutrition and the Midwest Dairy Endowed Professor of Clinical Nutrition. Her current research focuses on the measurement of dietary intake and behavioral modification interventions in a variety of settings, including weight management, the aging brain, and post-surgery pain management.
Leslie C. Appiah is the new chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology and executive director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. She most recently taught at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital Colorado. Her medical expertise centers on fertility and reproductive preservation in women and girls undergoing cancer treatment, hormone replacement therapy, and breast cancer treatment.
Shaniece B. Bickham has been appointed director of the School of Communication and Design at Loyola University New Orleans. She will also serve as an associate professor of mass communication. Prior to her new position, she was an associate professor and program coordinator for mass communication and film at Dillard University in New Orleans. Her scholarship focuses on source credibility, crisis communication, and political messaging.
Katherine Tate, professor of political science at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, has received the 2025 Hanes Walton Jr. Career Award from the American Political Science Association. The biennial award honors a political scientist whose lifetime of distinguished scholarship has made significant contributions to our understanding of racial and ethnic politics and illuminates the conditions under which diversity and intergroup tolerance thrive in a democratic society.
Dr. Tate is a leading scholar on African American politics, race and gender in political science, American public opinion, government, and urban politics. In 1988 and 1996, she was a co-principal investigator on the National Black Election Survey, one of the country’s most comprehensive public opinion polls of Black American voters. Dr. Tate is the author of seven books, including her most recent publication, 
Ofosuwa M. Abiola is the new dean of the Graduate School at Bowie State University in Maryland. She comes to Bowie State from Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she taught for more than a decade. During her tenure at Howard, she had stints as coordinator of the dance program and associate dean of research and creative endeavors. As an Africanist historian, Dr. Abiola specializes in the dances and culture of Africa and the diaspora.
Miah Dreger has been appointed dean of the School of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics at Springfield Technical Community College in Massachusetts. She comes to her new role from Central Connecticut State University, where she was interim associate dean of engineering, science, and technology. Earlier, she worked with the Connecticut State Community College System and Capital Community College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Jennifer Cooley is the new vice provost and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Previously, she was interim dean and associate dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences at the University of Northern Iowa. She is also a professor of Spanish who focuses on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature and culture of Spain, as well as twenty-first-century immigration issues in America.
Kathryn W. Jablokow has been named dean of the School of Engineering at Manhattan University in New York. She is the first woman to hold the position. For the past five years, she has worked for the National Science Foundation, most recently serving as deputy director of the research, innovation, synergies, and education division in the geosciences directorate. Earlier, she was an associate chief academic officer at Pennsylvania State University, where she remains a professor emerita.
The Association of American Medical Colleges has named Maria L. Soto-Greene, professor and executive vice dean at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, one of five recipients of the 2025 AAMC ACE Award for Advocacy, Collaboration, and Education.
Melissa Lockard has been appointed director of institutional planning and assessment at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina. She had been teaching as an assistant professor of biology, but will now transition to an administrative role, overseeing the design, coordination, and implementation of comprehensive assessment programs across academic and staff units.
Eloise Abernathy Alexis is the new vice president for institutional advancement at Tennessee State University. Her appointment marks a return to the university, where she previously served as associate vice president for institutional advancement. More recently, she was vice president of development at LEAD Public Schools in Nashville.
KC Counts has been named content director of New Mexico State University’s KRWG Public Media. Her background includes over three decades of broadcasting experience. For the past six years, she has served as KRWG’s FM operations manager.
Susan E. Short has been promoted to senior associate vice president for outreach and international affairs at Virginia Tech. She first joined the university in 2004 as director of the Virginia Tech Roanoke Center. She later served as director of outreach program development and as the inaugural associate vice president for engagement.
Anne Roemer is the new chief human resources officer for the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She has worked for NASA for over two decades, most recently serving as chief human capital officer. Earlier in her tenure, she was human resources director for NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where she managed the center’s astronaut selection program.
Akua Johnson Matherson has been appointed vice president of finance at Talladega College in Alabama. With over 25 years of experience in higher education administration, she previously served as chief financial officer at North Carolina Central University. Earlier, she was associate vice chancellor for enrollment management at North Carolina A&T State University.
LeAndrea Mikell was recently promoted to assistant vice president for government and community relations at Savannah State University in Georgia. She has served in several capacities at the university, most recently as the executive director of governmental relations and community engagement. During the 2023-2024 academic year, she served as interim vice president for university advancement.
Bethany Spurrier has been promoted to director of the Office of Sponsored Programs at Ohio University. In this role, she will oversee the submission of externally sponsored proposals and the negotiation of awards on behalf of the university. Spurrier has been a research administrator at the university for the past 12 years, beginning as a pre-award proposal administrator.
Mette Gaarde is the new Les and Dot Broussard Alumni Professor in the department of physics and astronomy at Louisiana State University, where she has taught for more than two decades. In her research, she examines how electrons inside atoms, molecules, and solids respond when exposed to short laser pulses. Her work has implications for energy, health, and defense technologies, as well as the creation of new materials.
Jennifer L. Irish has been named the Charles P. Lunsford Professor in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. She has been a member of the university’s department of civil and environmental engineering for over 14 years. As a coastal engineer, she specializes in storm surge dynamics, coastal hazard management, and nature-based coastal infrastructure.
Abigail Lowe is the inaugural recipient of the Drs. Virginia and John F. Aita Professorship Integrating the Humanities and Arts in Health Promotion at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Lowe also conducts research with the Global Center for Health Security and is an affiliate faculty member of the medical humanities at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Her scholarly interests center on ethics, health policy, and health security.
Morgan Parker is a new assistant professor of English literature. Previously, she taught as an associate adjunct professor at the University of California, Irvine, and as a visiting faculty member at New York University and Columbia University. She is the author of 
Emma Rackstraw, an assistant professor of economics. specializes in labor and public economics, the economics of crime, experimental and behavioral economics, and the economics of discrimination. She previously served as a sector lead for Crime and Political Economy & Governance at the James Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Rackstraw holds a bachelor’s degree in economics with a minor in music from Wellesley College in Massachusetts and a Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University.
Federica Zoe Ricci is an assistant professor of mathematics and statistics. She specializes in Bayesian statistical methods, statistics, and data science education. Her research focuses on developing scalable statistical models for the analysis of large networks, such as those found in sociology and biology applications. Dr. Ricci earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and management for arts, culture, and communication and a master’s degree in economic and social sciences from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. She recently completed her Ph.D. in statistics at the University of California, Irvine.
Ranysha Ware is a new assistant professor of computer science. Her research focuses on networking, distributed systems, and applied machine learning. Dr. Ware previously taught at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Dr. Ware earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the State University of New York at New Paltz. She holds a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University.
Iris Yoon was appointed an assistant professor of mathematics and statistics. Dr. Yoon uses techniques from topology to infer structural information from data, particularly data arising from biology and neuroscience experiments. She previously taught as an assistant professor at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and held postdoctoral positions at the University of Oxford Mathematical Institute, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Swarthmore College, Dr. Yoon earned a Ph.D. in applied mathematics and computational science from the University of Pennsylvania.
The U.S. Census Bureau has released new 
Marielena DeSanctis has been named the next chancellor of the Colorado Community College System. Upon assuming her new role on October 1, she will become the system’s first Latina chancellor.
Ingrid T. Katz has been appointed director of the Yale Institute for Global Health. She will assume her new role on January 1.
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The Goizueta Business School at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia has recruited six new faculty members to join the institution this fall. Three of these new professors are women who are all beginning their first tenure-track faculty appointments in academia.
Ella Xu is a new assistant professor of marketing. Her research centers on consumer decision-making, particularly in regards to interaction with machine learning. Through her work, she aims to develop explainable machine learning tools by leveraging marketing theories and domain knowledge to help researchers gain deeper insights and support marketers in designing more effective strategies.
Ludovica Castiglia is a new assistant professor of organization and management. She most recently served as a visiting scholar with the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and currently holds an appointment as a junior research fellow with Wharton’s Environmental, Social, and Governance Initiative. Before transitioning her career to academia, she held engineering and operations positions with Procter & Gamble, Amazon, and the Boston Consulting Group. In her own research, she explores how political ideology shapes the behavior and attitudes of social actors, ultimately influencing organizational performance.
Laura Wallace is a new assistant professor of organization and management. She was a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Business at the University of Chicago. Earlier, she was a postdoctoral researcher with George Mason University in Virginia. Her scholarship examines how people and organizations can foster trust, with consequences for their ability to address societal disadvantage, change minds, and foster growth.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine recently announced the promotions of eight faculty members in the department of pathology. Three of these scholars are women who have been granted tenure and promoted to the rank of associate professor.
Liyun Cao has been a UAB faculty member since 2018, when she was hired as an instructor in the division of laboratory medicine. She was promoted to assistant professor three years later. Currently, she serves as section head of clinical chemistry, and holds leadership positions with the Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Laboratory, the Critical Care Transport Laboratory, and the Kirklin Clinic Point-of-Care Testing. Her research primarily focuses on biomarkers analytical evaluation and clinical application.
Diana Morlote began her career with UAB in 2017 as a molecular genetic pathology fellow. She completed a second fellowship in hematopathology in 2018 and joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 2019. In addition to her faculty appointment, she is director of the hematopathology fellowship program and leads the hematopathology resident rotation. She also serves as chair of the Critical Values Committee, a director for the Hematology-Oncology Module, and director of two outreach service labs in the McDonald Clinic and Urgent Care. In her research, she studies the molecular characterization of hematologic neoplasms and their diagnostic and prognostic implications.
Nirupama Singh joined the UAB department of pathology in 2018 as a molecular/genetic pathology fellow, followed by another one-year fellowship in transfusion medicine. In 2020, she joined the faculty full-time as an assistant professor in the division of laboratory medicine. A board certified physician in transfusion medicine, molecular genetic pathology, and anatomic and clinical pathology, she serves as medical director of UAB’s apheresis collection services. Her research interests include the development of next generation precision medicine and its availability to underserved patients, as well as red cell genotyping for patients with sickle disease.
Angelina Wang has joined the Cornell University faculty as an assistant professor of information science at Cornell Tech and the Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science. Her research centers on responsible AI, including the societal impacts of AI systems and fairness beyond one-size-fits-all metrics.
Heidi Hamann has been promoted to head the department of psychology at the University of Arizona. She previously served as the department’s associate head for strategic initiatives. As a clinical health psychologist, she focuses her research on developing and testing interventions to improve quality of life among individuals diagnosed with cancer.
Sahoko Sato Timpone is a new associate professor of voice at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She has served on the voice faculty at Florida State University since 2017. As a professional vocalist, she has appeared in opera and concert performances throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.
Lauren Whitehurst is a new assistant professor of psychology and of Black studies at Yale University. She comes to Yale from the University of Kentucky, where she was an assistant professor of psychology and director of Team Science in the Center for Clinical Translational Science. Also, Dr. Whitehurst was affiliated with the Center for Health Equity Transformation and the department of African American and Africana studies. Earlier, she was a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center for Health and Community at the University of California, San Francisco.
Katherine Clohan Gasaway has been promoted to chair of the natural sciences and mathematics department at Central Baptist College in Conway, Arkansas. She joined the faculty in 2023 as an associate professor of chemistry. In her role, she teaches several courses in introductory chemistry, organic chemistry, physiological chemistry, and biochemistry.
Gishma Shah has been appointed associate dean of the O’Malley School of Business at Manhattan University in the borough of The Bronx in New York City. A faculty member since 2008, she currently serves as a full professor and director of the global business studies program. Her scholarship centers on globalization, gender equity, and cultural change. Dr. Shah is the author of the novel 
Nicole Archer is the new chair of the department of art and design at Montclair State University in New Jersey. She currently serves as an associate professor in visual and critical studies, with an affiliation in gender, sexuality, and women’s studies. As a scholar, she examines contemporary art and design, with a particular focus on textile and garment histories and the intersections of art, design, and social justice.
Tammy Killian has been selected to serve as interim associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at Western Illinois University in Macomb. She currently serves as a professor and chair of the department of theatre and dance. Throughout her tenure at the university, she has produced more than 100 theatre and dance productions and helped to establish the stage combat minor and the playwriting program.
Ieva Jusionyte is the new director of the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She currently holds the title of Watson Family University Professor of International Security and Anthropology. As a legal and medical anthropologist, she studies the conceptual and material relationship between the state and various forms of violence. Her latest book is 
Sophia Mao has joined the Bryn Mawr College faculty as an assistant professor of English literature. Her research and teaching interests include contemporary Asian American literature, twentieth- and twenty-first-century global Anglophone literature, affect theory, and media studies. Before her new role, she was a lecturer at Harvard University.
Xiuling Lu, professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Connecticut, has received the 2025 Michael J. Pikal NIPTE Distinguished Scholar in Pharmaceutical Processing Award from the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education. Presented biennially, the award is the institute’s highest honor, recognizing a senior faculty member who has made outstanding scientific contributions in pharmaceutical science and technology.
Mary Lou Vredenburg is the new dean of the School of Liberal and Professional Studies at Springfield Technical Community College in Massachusetts. She comes to her new role from Connecticut State Community College’s Manchester campus, where she was associate dean of faculty. Earlier, she was associate dean of arts, humanities, mathematics, and social sciences at Brightpoint Community College in Virginia.
Anna Hickey has been appointed dean of the Joseph W. Luter, III School of Business at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. A recently retired captain in the U.S. Coast Guard, she most recently served as vice provost for academic administration at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. Earlier in her tenure at the academy, she was dean of the School of Leadership and Management. Her research interests are in governmental financial reporting and accounting education.
Carrie Showalter has been named dean of students and associate vice president of student life at West Virginia University. She has worked for the university in several leadership capacities since 2007. Most recently, she was assistant dean and executive director of campus and community life.
Laura Ken Hoffman has been named the inaugural dean of the forthcoming School of Veterinary Medicine at Murray State University in Kentucky. A faculty member since 2013, she has been a key stakeholder in planning and designing the new academic school. Currently, she leads Murray State’s veterinary technology and pre-veterinary medicine programs.
Carrie Mospens is the new dean of career and technical education at Hawai’i Community College. She has been a faculty member with the college since 2010, holding positions such as instructor, associate professor, English department chair, and interim dean of liberal arts and sciences. In her new role, she will oversee programs that prepare students for careers vital to the state’s economy.
Suzanne Kissock has been promoted from interim dean to permanent dean of the College of Business and Professional Studies at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph. After five years as an adjunct professor, Kissock joined the university’s faculty on a full-time basis in 2005. She has held several leadership roles throughout the past two decades, including assistant dean and legal studies program director in the department of criminal justice and legal studies.
Jualynne E. Dodson, professor emerita of sociology at Michigan State University, has received the 2025 Cox-Johnson-Frazier Award from the American Sociological Association. The award honors a sociologist who has dedicated their scholarship in service of social justice.
Jazzmine Clarke-Glover is the new executive vice president and chief of staff at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York. An administrator with the college since 2015, she previously served as director of human resources and Title IX coordinator. Earlier, she held human resources positions with New York City Technical College and the City University of New York’s Graduate Center.
Mary Grimes McGreer has been appointed associate provost of academic affairs at Bowie State University in Maryland. She brings over two decades of higher education experience to her new role. Previously, she was assistant provost of academic affairs at Alabama State University.
After one year of interim service, Chris Smith has been officially named vice chancellor for advancement at the University of Missouri. Prior to her interim appointment, she was the university’s assistant vice chancellor for constituent units. She has also served as director of advancement for the university’s Thompson Center for Autism and chief development officer for the College of Education and Human Development
Amy Taylor has been named the inaugural senior director of the Colorado State University Accessibility Center. She comes to her new role from North Idaho College, where she has been serving as director of student disability, health, and counseling. Earlier, she was director of the student disability office at the University of Idaho.
Mandy McClendon is the new senior director of communications and marketing for the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. She most recently served as a senior manager for the global communications team at Walmart, Inc. Before her work with Walmart, she held marketing roles with the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and the city of Austin, Texas.
Ariel Hochman has been appointed as the campus advocate coordinator for the Crime Victims Assistance Center at Binghamton University in New York. She previously worked for the university’s Health Campus Initiative. In her new role, she will provide resources and support for students, faculty, and staff impacted by crime.
DeVaria Hudson Ponton has been selected to serve as interim director of international student affairs at Grambling State University in Louisiana. She has over two decades of experience in enrollment management, student affairs, and international services. Earlier, she was director of international services and programs at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and director of multicultural affairs at Louisiana Tech University.
Joel Phelps was recently promoted to vice president of student success at Columbia-Greene Community College in Hudson, New York. She had been serving as the college’s dean for enrollment management. Earlier, she held various roles with Southern Vermont College, the College of St. Rose, and Hudson Valley Community College.
Catherine Petrany has been named the Boniface Wimmer Endowed Chair in Monastic Studies at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. She has been a faculty member with the college for more than a decade, currently teaching as an associate professor of theology. Her scholarship integrates academic biblical scholarship with Benedictine monastic tradition.
Carrie McDermott has joined the University of Arkansas faculty as the George M. and Boyce W. Billingsley Endowed Chair in Nursing and executive director of the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing. She comes to her new role from Emory University in Atlanta, where she was corporate director of academic practice integration and partnerships at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. Earlier in her tenure with Emory, she was director of nurse residency programs.
Shelagh A. Gallagher has been named the Jody and Layton Smith Professor of Gifted Education and Talent Development and executive director of the Center for Gifted Education at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Her appointment marks a return to the college, where she previously served as associate director for grants and contracts at the Center for Gifted Education. More recently, she was director of the Office of Gifted and Talented Education at the University of North Texas.
Doreen Keller is the new Sue Chandler Endowed Professor in Education at Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. In 2013, she joined the university as a visiting professor and was appointed to the full-time faculty two years later. Currently, she serves as an associate professor for graduate studies in education and executive director of the master’s degree program in teaching.
Dorsey Wanless has been named the Dr. Kenneth M. Hollenbaugh Endowed Professor in Economic Geology at Boise State University in Idaho. Currently serving as chair of the university’s department of geosciences, she studies the evolution of magmas in submarine settings, including mid-ocean ridges and ocean islands. Her research also focuses on understanding the role of magmatism in continental rifting.
Natalie Gomez-Velez has been named interim dean of the City University of New York School of Law.
Elizabeth de León Bhargava has been appointed interim president of Guttman Community College.
Daniela Giardina is the new executive director of the Abdul Latif Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“This center represents a comprehensive approach to leadership development,” said Shannon Mantaro, JNIWL’s executive director and chief officer. “We’re not just conducting cutting-edge research — we’re ensuring that research directly informs how we prepare thousands of students with the leadership capabilities employers demand.”
As part of a $1 million lawsuit settlement, New Mexico State University has announced students will be required to complete consent and sexual assault training at the start of every academic year, according to a