Tabbye M. Chavous has been appointed as the executive director of the American Educational Research Association. She will begin her new role on August 11.
Dr. Chavous has been serving as a professor of education and psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. An academic and administrative leader at the university for more than 25 years, she served as vice provost for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer. Earlier in her tenure, she was co-director of the Center for the Study of Black Youth in Context at the university.
As a scholar, Dr. Chavous has dedicated her career to advancing educational equity. She has conducted extensive research on social and academic identity development among Black adolescents and young adults; achievement motivation processes among underrepresented students; and the measurement of educational climates on students’ academic, social, and psychological adjustment.
Dr. Chavous holds a Ph.D. in community psychology from the University of Michigan
Women in Academia Report regularly publishes a list of new books that may be of interest to our readers. The books included are on a wide variety of subjects and present many different points of view. The opinions expressed in these books do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board of WIAReport. As an Amazon Associate, WIAReport will earn a fraction of revenue from qualifying purchases.
Each week, Women in Academia Report will provide links to online articles that may be of interest to our readers. The links presented direct the reader to articles from many different points of view that deal with issues of women in higher education. The articles selected do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board of WIAReport.
Salem College, a women’s liberal arts educational institution in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has received the largest number of applications in its history. This is the college’s fourth consecutive year of record-breaking growth in student applicants.
“Since 2021, Salem’s transformation into America’s Health Leadership College has been recognized by students, families, and high school counselors from across the nation,” said Salem Academy and College President Summer McGhee. “We are so proud that Salem is again seen as the place for women who seek to become leaders in health, now the world’s top field for job growth. In addition, Salem has added new programs in fields like computer science and digital marketing, new NCAA sports, and innovative new spaces for learning, all of which position students for success.”
Suzanne Loker, professor emerita at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, passed away on April 12 after a long battle with cancer. She was 77 years old.
Martha Saunders, the sixth president of the University of West Florida, has announced she is stepping down from her role.
Phokeng M. Dailey has been named vice president for marketing and communications at Ohio Wesleyan University. In addition to her new administration appointment, she will retain her faculty position as the Warren C. Fairbanks Endowed Chair in Communication. Prior to her career in academia, she worked in visual merchandising and marketing with Limited Brands and Victoria’s Secret.
Catherine Gavin Loss has been promoted to associate provost for academic affairs at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. A faculty member since 2008, she is an associate professor of practice in the department of leadership, policy, and organizations. She previously served as senior associate dean for academic affairs and professional education at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College.
Jennifer Barker has been named director of the School of Film, Media, and Theatre at Georgia State University. She is an associate professor of film and media studies who specializes in moving image aesthetics, cinema and the senses, film phenomenology, and theories of spectatorship. She is the author of 
Annie Childers has been appointed chair of the department of mathematics and statistics at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. A faculty member since 2014, she recently served as interim associate dean of the Donaghey College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Earlier in her tenure, she was the graduate coordinator for all applied mathematics and statistics programs.
Janet Wilmoth has been named a distinguished professor at Syracuse University. The title is the one of the university’s highest faculty honors. A professor of sociology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, she currently directs the Aging Studies Institute. She has held several leadership roles at the university, including director of the Gerontology Center and chair of the department of sociology.
Dolores Delgado Bernal has been granted the title of president’s professor in the School of Education at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. The title is bestowed upon distinguished full professors who are acknowledged as leaders in the fields. Dr. Delgado, a professor of educational leadership, focuses her academic work on bridging the fields of education and Chicanx studies.
Margarita Kaprielyan has been appointed associate dean for faculty development and student success in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business at Elon University in North Carolina. She is an associate professor of finance who specializes in real estate finance.
Marisa C. Kozlowski has been named associate dean for the natural sciences in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. A Penn faculty member since 1997, she currently holds the title of Ponzy Lu Endowed Professor of Chemistry. Her research focuses on the rational design of new methods and catalysts for use in organic synthesis.
Ralina Joseph has been named vice provost for inclusive excellence at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has been a faculty member in communications, American ethnic studies, and gender, women, and sexuality studies at the University of Washington since 2005. She has been serving as associate dean for equity and justice for graduate schools across the University of Washington’s three campuses. Also, Dr. Joseph was the founding director of the Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity.
Melissa Smith has been appointed director of the Kossen Center for Teaching and Learning at the Mississippi University for Women. She has served as the Gibbons Chair of Journalism at the university since 2011. She also serves as faculty advisor for the campus newspaper, The Spectator. 
In his will, Joseph Pulitzer bestowed an endowment on Columbia University of $2,000,000 for the establishment of a School of Journalism, one-fourth of which was to be “applied to prizes or scholarships for the encouragement of public service, public morals, American literature, and the advancement of education.” The Pulitzer Prizes were first awarded in 1917. In addition to journalism, the Pulitzer Prize board also gives out awards in literature, drama, poetry, music, and photography.
Edda Fields-Black, professor of history at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in History for her book, 
COMBEE tells the story of the Combahee River Raid, an attack on the major rice plantations in South Carolina. On June 2, 1863, Tubman and her crew led a group of Black and White soldiers up coastal South Carolina’s Combahee River in three gunboats. In a matter of hours, they torched eight rice plantations and liberated 730 people. Dr. Fields-Black is a descendant of one of the raid’s participants.
Kathleen DuVal, professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, also won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in History for her book, 
Native Nations explores the 1,000-year history of the continent from the rise of ancient cities to present day. The book discusses how Indigenous peoples adapted to climate change and instability with innovation, forming smaller communities and egalitarian government structures with complex economies which spread across North America.
Marie Howe, a faculty member at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her collection, 
Alongside new ideas and observations, Howe’s latest award-winning volume draws from each of her four previous collections: 
Stephanie Pilat has been appointed dean of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati. She comes to her new role from the University of Oklahoma, where she has served as the Edith Kinney Gaylord Presidential Professor. Earlier in her tenure with the university, she led the division of architecture. Her research focuses on twentieth-century architectural theory and history, design pedagogy, Cold War American architecture, Italian architecture, and urbanism and social housing.
Courtney Catledge has been promoted from interim dean to permanent dean of the University of South Carolina Lancaster campus. Prior to her interim appointment, she was director of the campus’ bachelor’s degree in nursing program. Her scholarly research focuses on community and public health concerns impacting rural communities.
Kala Burrell-Craft has been named dean of the College of Education at Grambling State University in Louisiana. With nearly two decades of experience in K-12 and higher education settings, Dr. Burrell-Craft studies identity development, educational equity in urban and rural contexts, anti-racist teacher and leadership preparation, culturally responsive pedagogy, critical literacies, and social justice.
Marieke Van Puymbroeck has been appointed vice provost and dean of the Graduate School at the University of Tennessee. She comes to her new appointment from Clemson University, where she is a professor in the department of parks, recreation, and tourism management and associate dean of the Graduate School. With academic expertise in recreational therapy, she is currently researching large fall prevention initiatives for rural older adults.
Jean VanderGheynst has been named dean of the College of the Environment and Life Sciences at the University of Rhode Island. She has been serving as a professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Earlier, she was dean of the College of Engineering at the university. A biological engineer, she studies next-generation biofuels, bioproducts, agricultural biotechnology, and approaches to address global environmental challenges.
Marty Sexton has been promoted from acting dean to permanent dean of the College of Health, Education, and Human Services at Wright State University in Ohio. A faculty member since 2022, she previously served as the university’s chief nursing officer, academic partnership liaison to Premier Health, director of interprofessional education, and associate dean. Her research centers on interprofessional collaboration in healthcare.
Sarah Jane Rhoads has been named dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Her appointment marks a return to the university, where she previously taught for nearly two decades. Recently she has been serving as professor and chair of the department of community and population health at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. In her academic work, she studies digital health, care quality, education, and maternal health.
Melissa E. Trego has been appointed vice president and dean of academic affairs for the State University of New York College of Optometry. She most recently served as dean of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University. In addition to her role as an administrator and instructor, she served as a clinician at The Eye Institute.
LaShundria Allen has been appointed executive administrative assistant for the University of Arkansas Police Department. She has over a decade of experience in administrative operations. Since 2015, she has been the assistant to the chief of police at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
Suzanne Glassburn has been named vice president and secretary of the university at Harvard University. She comes to her new role from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she most recently served as vice president and secretary of the corporation. Earlier in her tenure with MIT, she was a member of the Office of the General Counsel.
Shilpa Patwardhan has been named assistant dean and executive director of the Peabody Leadership Institute at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. With over two decades of experience in learning technology, she previously served as senior head of learning innovation at CFA Institute. She is also the founder of revLDesign, a learning design consultancy.
Orielle E. Hope has been appointed assistant vice chancellor of human resources operations at North Carolina A&T State University. She comes to NCAT from Salem Academy and College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she was director of human resources and benefits.
Leslie Martin has been promoted to assistant dean for administration for the College of Veterinary Medicine at Purdue University in Indiana. She has held progressive leadership roles at Purdue for the past 12 years. Most recently, she was the College of Veterinary Medicine’s director of financial affairs.
Lisa Stone has been promoted from interim vice chancellor to permanent vice chancellor for marketing and communications at the University of Mississippi. She has been a staff member at Ole Miss for over three decades. Before her interim appointment in September 2024, she was serving as the university’s director of strategic communications.
Laura Syer has been named vice president for budget, financial planning, and analysis at New York University. Since 2012, she has held increasingly senior positions in budgeting, planning, and administration at Cornell University. Most recently, she served as vice president of budget and planning.
Wendy Sledd has been appointed chief of marketing and communications at Central Texas College. With over four decades of professional experience, she most recently served as executive director of communications for the Waco Independent School District in Texas. Earlier, she led the communications department for Copperas Cove Independent School District.
Jennifer R. Flowers has been named director of athletics at Winona State University in Minnesota. Upon assuming her role on June 18, she will become the first woman to hold the position. For the past three years, she has served as director of athletics at Southwest Minnesota State University.
Tiffany Wright has been promoted to senior vice president and general counsel at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. For the past two years, she has served as the university’s deputy general counsel. Prior to joining the Johns Hopkins administration, she was associate counsel for racial justice and equity in the Office of the White House Counsel.
Lisa Goddard McGuirk has been appointed athletic director for Fort Hayes State University in Kansas. She has served as director of athletics at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania since 2014. Before Gannon, she was director of athletics, wellness, and recreation at Cedar Crest College, a liberal arts institution for women in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Stacy Gato has been appointed vice president of enrollment management at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina. Prior to her new role, she was vice president for strategic enrollment management at Saint Leo University in Florida. Earlier, she was vice president for enrollment management at Averett University in Danville, Virginia.
Connie Chiang has been named the Rusack Professor of History and Environmental Studies. A scholar of modern U.S. history, she focuses her work on environmental history, the history of the American West, social history, and Asian American history. Her latest book, 
Pamela Fletcher has been named the Edith Cleaves Barry Professor of History and the Criticism of Art. Her academic expertise centers on Victorian and Edwardian painting with a focus on questions of narrative, sentiment, and play in the context of nineteenth-century exhibition culture. She recently published 
Paige Herrlinger has been named the Frank A. Munsey Professor of History. A Bowdoin faculty member since 1998, she currently serves as chair of the department of Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies. Her most recent book, 
Laura Carlson has been selected to serve as interim president of the University of Delaware. Her appointment is effective July 1, following the retirement of the university’s twenty-eighth president, Dennis Assanis.
Marva Johnson has been appointed the thirteenth president of Florida A&M University. Located in Tallahassee, the university enrolls nearly 7,800 undergraduates and more than 1,400 graduate students. Women represent two-thirds of the undergraduate student population.
Jennifer Berne has been named president of Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin. Primarily a 2-year institution, Madison College enrolls over 13,000 students, 54 percent of whom are women. Dr. Berne is slated to take the helm of the technical college on July 1.
The American Philosophical Society (APS), the oldest learned society in North America, has announced the election of 38 new members. These new members represent outstanding achievement in the sciences, humanities, social sciences, and technology, as well as leadership in industry, higher education, and nonprofit administration. The current elected membership of the APS consists of 817 resident members and 159 international members. Only 5,854 members have been elected since it founding by Benjamin Franklin in 1743.
Persis Drell is provost emerita and is the James and Anna Marie Spilker Professor, at Stanford University in California. She is the former director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and earlier spent 14 years on the faculty at Cornell University in New York. Dr. Drell is a graduate of Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She holds a Ph.D. in atomic physics from the University of California at Berkeley.
Marcia Jean Rieke is the Regents’ Professor of Astronomy at the Steward Observatory of the University of Arizona. Her research interests include infrared observations of the center of the Milky Way and of other galactic nuclei and observation of the infrared sky at as faint a level as possible to study distant galaxies. She came to the University of Arizona in 1976 as a postdoctoral researcher. Dr. Rieke holds a doctorate in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dianne K. Newman is the Gordon M. Binder/Amgen Professor of Biology and Geobiology and the Merkin Institute Professor at the California Institute of Technology. Her research is focused on bioenergetics and cell biology of metabolically diverse, genetically-tractable bacteria. She joined the faculty at Caltech in 2000. Dr. Newman is a graduate of Stanford University and holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mary Eleanor Power is a professor in the department of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research is focused on food webs, primarily algal-based river food webs and their linkages to upland and estuarine ecosystems. Professor Power served as president of the Ecological Society of America (2009–10) and the American Society of Naturalists (2005-2006). She holds a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Washington.
Esther Duflo is the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She joined the faculty at MIT in 1999. She also serves as the co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab Chaire, Pauvreté et politiques at the College de France. She is the co-author of the critically acclaimed book 
Sherrilyn Ifill is the Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. Professor of Law at the Howard University School of Law. Earlier, Professor Ifill served as the seventh president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund. Previously. she was a professor at the University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore for 20 years. Professor Ifill is a graduate of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She earned a juris doctorate at New York University.
Hazel Rose Markus is the Davis-Brack Professor in the Behavioral Sciences in the department of psychology at Stanford University. Her research focuses on the role of self in regulating behavior and on the ways in which the social world shapes the self. She joined the faculty at Stanford University in 1994 after teaching for nearly two decades at the University of Michigan. Professor Markus holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan.
Angela R. Riley ia a professor of law and American Indian studies and holds the Carole Goldberg Endowed Chair of Native American Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. She also serves as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Professor Riley is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. She earned a juris doctorate at Harvard Law School.
Brigitte Bedos-Rezak is a professor of history at New York University She is affiliated with the university’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World and the Institute of Fine Arts. Her scholarship focuses on medieval France (900-1600), with some attention to England, Germany, and Spain. She is the co-author of 
Julie A. Fairman is the Nightingale Professor in Nursing Emerita at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Dr. Fairman began teaching at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing as a lecturer in 1991. She was named an assistant professor in 1995, an associate professor in 2001, and a full professor in 2009. Professor Fairman is a graduate of Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania.
Valerie Smith is the fifteenth president of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. Before assuming this role in 2015, Dr. Smith was dean of the college and the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature at Princeton University in New Jersey. Dr. Smith is a graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. She is the author or editor of several books including 
Sweet Briar College, a women’s liberal arts institution in Virginia, has received a $5 million donation from the estate of Donna “Jan” Pridmore, who passed away in February 2024. Pridmore, a 1971 alumna of Sweet Briar, was the founder of the website “Literary History” and former head of her family’s distribution company, Pridmore Corporation. Her donation will support Sweet Briar’s capital needs, including infrastructure improvements to the Guion Science Center.
Three projects at Michigan State University have received new grant funding from the American Cancer Society to advance breast cancer and cervical cancer research. The first grant, worth $792,000, will support the development of a nanotherapy that treats breast cancer without the typical side effects. The second grant, worth $297,000, will fund research on why breast cancer spreads to the liver and lymph nodes and how to prevent it from occurring. The third grant, worth $217,000, will go towards the development of culturally appropriate health messaging that educates African American parents about the HPV vaccine, a treatment used to prevent cervical cancer and other HPV-related cancers.
Scripps College, a women’s liberal arts institution and one of the Claremont Colleges in California, has received a $1.1 million gift from the late Elizabeth Rosemary Plane Sage to support the college’s department of art. The donation from the Scripps College alumna will fund new community-building events, paid student professional development opportunities, new art equipment and supplies, skill-based art workshops, student-curated art shows, and renovations to the college’s senior art studio.
Janine E. Janosky has announced her retirement as president of Richard J. Daley College, one of seven institutions within the City Colleges of Chicago system. Her retirement is effective June 30.
Jeri W. Dunkin, professor emeritus at the University of Alabama, passed away on April 14. She was 81 years old.
Since 1976, the Association of American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE Awards) have recognized the best professional and scholarly publications from scholars in numerous fields of study each year. The R. R. Hawkins Award, the association’s top prize, recognizes the year’s outstanding scholarly publication across all disciplines.
Cameisha Clark, a 35-year-old administrator at the Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, passed away on May 5. She was of one of two women shot in an incident on the college’s Inglewood, California campus, on May 2. A security guard at the college was arrested and charged with murder.
Alyson G. Wilson has been appointed vice provost for research at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. She joins the William & Mary faculty from North Carolina State University, where she is a professor of statistics and senior associate vice chancellor for research initiatives and commercialization.
Anna Marie Wytko has earned the rank of university distinguished professor at Kansas State University. The lifetime honor is the highest faculty title given by the university. A professor of music in the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Wytko is a professional saxophonist who has performed in venues around the world.
Molly McGlone has been promoted to deputy dean of undergraduate studies in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. She most recently served as the college’s associate dean and director of academic affairs. In addition to supporting curriculum development and academic initiatives, she teaches courses on music and urban studies.
Colleen Boggs has been appointed associate dean for the arts and humanities in the faculty of arts and sciences at Dartmouth College. A faculty member since 2001, she currently holds the title of Parents Distinguished Research Professor in the Humanities. A scholar of nineteenth-century American literature, she specializes in the American Civil War, transatlantic studies, and literary theory.
Nicole Cobb has been named associate dean for academic affairs and professional education at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College in Nashville. A professor of practice in human and organizational development, she currently serves as director of the school counseling program track. Earlier, she was program director of human development studies and associate chair of the department of human and organizational development.
Lindy Elkins-Tanton has been appointed director of the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. She comes to Berkeley from Arizona State University, where she is a Foundation and Regents Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and vice president of the ASU Interplanetary Initiative.
Joli Livaudais has been named director of the School of Art and Design at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She first joined the university in 2014 as an assistant professor of photography. During her tenure, she had a stint as graduate program coordinator for the School of Art and Design.
Nina Kohn has been named a distinguished professor at Syracuse University in New York. The designation is one of the university’s highest faculty honors. A faculty member sine 2005, Kohn currently holds the title of David M. Levy Professor of Law. Her scholarship centers on the civil rights of older adults, as well as health law.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has honored three women for their outstanding contributions to the field of sleep medicine. They will be recognized during the plenary session of the SLEEP 2025 annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Seattle in June.
Carol Rosen will be the recipient of the Distinguished Leadership Award. She is a professor emerita at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland and a past board member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. She taught pediatric pulmonary medicine at Baylor, Yale and CWRU, where she led the Rainbow Babies & Children’s sleep medicine program for over 20 years. Her clinical and research interests include diagnostic testing for sleep-disordered breathing and managing pediatric sleep disorders. Dr. Rosen is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she majored in biology. She earned her medical doctorate at the University of Illinois Chicago.
Reena Mehra was named the winner of the Excellence in Research Award. She is being recognized for research that has directly informed and shaped clinical practice in cardiovascular sleep medicine, with a primary focus on atrial fibrillation. She is the division head of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine and the A. Bruce Montgomery, MD, American Lung Association Endowed Chair in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Washington. Previously, she directed the sleep research program at the Cleveland Clinic, advancing large-scale, data-driven scientific innovations. Dr. Mehra is a graduate of Youngstown State University in Ohio, where she majored in biology and chemistry. She holds a master’s degree in clinical research from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a medical doctorate from Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown.
Ilene Rosen, an associate professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, will receive the Excellence in Education Award. She serves as associate dean for graduate medical education and vice president for graduate medical education at the University of Pennsylvania Health System. A past president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, she played a key role in developing competency-based training pathways for sleep medicine. Her research focuses on innovative sleep medicine education and expanding access to care. Dr. Rosen is a graduate of Duke University, where she majored in neuroscience. She holds a master’s degree in c
Patricia Kinser has been promoted from interim dean to permanent dean of the School of Nursing at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. A VCU faculty member since 2012, she currently holds the title of Judith B. Collins and Joseph M. Teefy Distinguished Professor of Nursing. Earlier in her tenure at the university, she served as the nursing school’s assistant dean for research and scholarship. In addition to her academic work, she is an active women’s health nurse practitioner.
Julie Baldwin has been appointed dean of the College of the Sciences at Central Washington University. She comes to her new role from the University of Montana, where she has been serving as interim dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences. As a geoscientist, her research spans the fields of metamorphic petrology, geochronology, and tectonics.
Jaqueline Burger has been named dean of learning resources and Bucks Online at Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania. Currently teaching as a part-time instructor, she has served as the college’s interim dean of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics science June 2024. Earlier, she was an associate professor and learning technologies liaison.
Saba Rasheed Ali has been selected to serve as interim associate provost for graduate and professional education and dean of the Graduate College at the University of Iowa. A faculty member since 2003, she recently was named a 2025 University of Iowa Distinguished Chair, one of the university’s most prestigious faculty designations. She is a full professor of counseling psychology and currently serves as associate dean for research in the College of Education.
Krystyna Puć is stepping in to serve as interim dean of the division of liberal arts at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She recently retired from the school in December after two decades on the history and humanities faculty. During this time, she had stints as assistant dean of the division of liberal arts and coordinator for the division’s for-credit online summer program.
Mandy Hart has been appointed dean of admission at Mount Holyoke College, a women’s liberal arts institution in South Hadley, Massachusetts. She comes to her new role from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where she currently serves as deputy director of admission. Earlier, she was associate dean of admission and coordinator of diversity outreach at Amherst College in Massachusetts.
Brigitte Vittrup has been promoted from interim dean to permanent dean of the College of Professional Education at Texas Woman’s University. She has previously held other leadership roles with the university, including chair of the department of human development, family studies, and counseling and acting director of the School of Library and Information Sciences. Her academic expertise centers on child and family issues and media influences on children.
Sherry Southerland, the Anne and John Daves Endowed Professor of Science Education at Florida State University, has received the 2025 Distinguished Contributions to Science Education through Research Award from the National Association for Research in Science Teaching. The award is considered the organization’s highest honor.
Kelly Sparks has been appointed vice chancellor for finance and chief financial officer at the University of California, Berkeley. She comes to her new role from the University of Maine, where she is the executive vice president of finance and administration and chief business officer. Earlier, she was associate vice president of finance and strategic planning at Oregon State University-Cascades.
Michelle McGuire has been named executive vice president of business affairs and chief operations officer for the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. Her background includes over two decades of experience in strategy and operations management. Since 2011, she has held several leadership roles with Children’s National Hospital, including chief strategy officer and chief of staff.
Andrea Vassar has been appointed director of disability services at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. She has significant experience in higher education, including past service as executive director for campus accessibility and ADA/504 coordinator at Tulane University in New Orleans and director of disability resources and services at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Brandyn J. Hicks has been named general counsel for Bryn Mawr College, a women’s liberal arts institution in Pennsylvania. Since 2017, she has served as associate general counsel for Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Previously, she was director of institutional compliance and policy at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
Shawna Lynch-Watkins has been named senior associate director of graduate admissions and lifelong learning at Meredith College, a women’s liberal arts institution in Raleigh, North Carolina. With over a decade of experience in enrollment strategy and program development, she most recently served as director of strategic initiatives at the University of Oklahoma.
Amy Pennington has been promoted from associate vice president to vice president for student affairs at Arkansas Tech University. She has worked for the university since 1997, serving in various student support roles such as dean of students, director of international and multicultural student services, and director of housing programs.
April Tallant has been promoted to director of the Coulter Faculty Commons at Western Carolina University. A former associate professor of health sciences, she previously served as the senior educational developer at the Coulter Faculty Commons. Earlier in her tenure, she was associate dean of the university’s Brunson Honors College.
Lisa Keegan has been named the inaugural vice provost for enrollment strategy at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. She comes to her new role from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, where she served vice president for student enrollment, engagement, and success. Previously, she was assistant vice president and dean of undergraduate admissions at Elon University in North Carolina.
Darnele Wright has been appointed chief campus counsel and vice chancellor of legal affairs at the University of California, San Francisco. She has extensive experience in legal services within the University of California System. Most recently, she was deputy general counsel for business, transactions, and innovation for the UC Office of the President.
Vicki DeGrand has been promoted to executive director of foundation and alumni relations at Bay College in Escanaba, Michigan. She has been a staff member with the community college since 2011. In her new role, she will lead the institution’s efforts in fundraising, donor relations, scholarship development, and alumni engagement.
Crystal R. Sanders, associate professor of African American studies at Emory University in Atlanta, has recently received two awards for her new book, 
A Forgotten Migration explores Black southerners’ efforts to secure post-baccalaureate education during the era of legal segregation. To comply with the separate but equal doctrine prevailing at that time, 16 southern and border states paid for their Black citizens to go out of state to pursue post-baccalaureate degree programs rather than establish segregated graduate programs for African Americans. In telling this story, Dr. Sanders also documents the decades-long state underfunding of public Black institutions of higher education.
Pamela Keel has been named the 2025-2026 Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor in the department of psychology at Florida State University. She first joined the university’s faculty in 2008 and was promoted to distinguished research professor in 2018. As a clinical psychologist, she studies eating disorders and how to address their causes and consequences.
Kish Parella has been named the James P. Morefield Professor at the Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia. A faculty member since 2013, her scholarship focuses on different levers for encouraging corporate responsibility, such as board governance, responsible contracting, reputational risk, and supply chain compliance.
Sharlene Smith has been named to the Anne MacGregor Jenkins Endowed Chair in Pediatric Nursing at Florida Southern College. She currently holds the rank of associate professor and serves as the education coordinator for the Carol Jenkins Barnett Center for Early Childhood Learning and Health. Her expertise centers on improving healthy lifestyle behaviors in children and families.
Gretchen E. Henderson has been named the Spence L. Wilson Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. She is an interdisciplinary scholar whose writing spans the fields of environmental arts, cultural histories, integrative sciences, and public humanities. She has authored several books, including 
Cathy Liu is a professor public management and policy in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. She conducts research and publishes widely on topics related to community and economic development, urban policy, employment and labor market, as well as migration and entrepreneurship in both the U.S. and international contexts. Professor Liu hols a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California.
Therese Pigott is a professor of educational policy studies in the College of Education & Human Development. She joined the faculty in 2019 after serving as dean of the School of Education and associate provost for research at Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Pigott is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana where she majored in psychology. She holds a Ph.D. in measurement, evaluation, and statistical analysis from the University of Chicago.
Marilynn Richtarik is a profssor of English. Dr. Richtarik teaches courses on twentieth-century British, Irish, and world literature and modern drama. Dr. Richtarik’s most recent book, 
Jelena Subotić is a professor of political science. Dr. Subotić writes broadly about international relations theory, memory politics, human rights, transitional justice, international ethics, state identity, and the politics of the Western Balkans. Her latest book is 
Sandra Haynes, chancellor of Washington State University Tri-Cities, has been selected to serve in a dual role as interim chancellor of Washington State University Vancouver. She will also co-chair the search for the Vancouver campus’ permanent chancellor.