Transitions: Kentucky Wesleyan College Selects New Chief, Provost Named at Texas Tech U. Health Sciences Center

Chief executives

Appointments

Tony Digiovanni, who was interim chief executive of Claremont Lincoln University since January, became president and chief executive on September 1.

Douglas F. Mann, vice president for academics and provost at Bryan College, in Tennessee, will become president in July. He will succeed Stephen Livesay, who plans to retire.

Thomas Mitzel, president of Dickinson State University, will become president of Kentucky Wesleyan College on January 2. He will replace Gene Tice, who has served as interim president since Barton D. Darrell stepped down in June.

Regina Stanback Stroud, president emerita of Skyline College, has been named chancellor of the Peralta Community College District.

Retirements

Charles F. Monahan Jr., president of MCPHS University since 1997, plans to retire on January 15.

Chief academic officers

Appointments

Pamela Cooper-White, a professor of psychology and religion at Union Theological Seminary, has been named dean and vice president for academic affairs.

Tricia Hunsader, dean of the College of Education at Tusculum University, has been named interim provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Lori Rice-Spearman, dean of the School of Health Professions at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, has been named provost and chief academic officer.

Resignations

Ben Polak, provost at Yale University, plans to step down and return to the faculty in January.

Other top administrators

Appointments

Inge-Lise Ameer, dean of students at Colby College, has been named vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Bryant University.

Michael Berman, deputy chief information officer and chief innovation officer at California State University system, has been named chief information officer.

Gina Covert, director of endowed and planned giving at Grand Valley State University, has been named vice president for advancement at Aquinas College, in Michigan.

Mary Dickinson, associate dean of research at Baylor College of Medicine, has been named vice president and dean of research.

Gail Glover, chief communications and marketing officer at the State University of New York at Geneseo, will become vice president for communications at Bucknell University on January 6.

Willie D. Larkin, former president of Grambling State University, has been named chief of staff and diversity officer at Edgewood College.

Karl Miller Lugo, a managing associate at Bentz Whaley Flessner, a fund-raising consulting firm for universities, has been named vice president for development and alumni relations at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Don C. Sawyer III, associate vice president for academic affairs and chief diversity officer at Quinnipiac University, has been promoted to vice president for equity and inclusion.

Renell Wynn, senior-administrator consultant at the Registry for College and University Presidents and former vice chancellor for communications and marketing at the University of Denver, will become vice president for communications at Wesleyan University on October 21.

Retirements

Gary Wade, vice president and dean of the Duncan School of Law at Lincoln Memorial University, plans to retire at the end of the academic year.

Deans

Appointments

Shira D. Epstein, an assistant professor of Jewish education at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, has been named dean of the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education.

Frederick Mayer, associate dean of the Terry Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, has been named dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.

David Musick, associate dean for faculty affairs at the Carilion School of Medicine at Virginia Tech, has been promoted to senior dean for faculty affairs.

James Pritchett, executive associate dean in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University at Fort Collins, has been named interim dean of the college.

William H. Sanders, chair in engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and interim director of the Discovery Partners Institute at the University of Illinois system, will become dean of the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University on January 1.

Rachel Schreiber, chief academic officer at the San Francisco Art Institute, has been named executive dean of Parsons School of Design at the New School.

Other administrators

Appointments

Rebekah Gunn, vice president for public policy for the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, has been named assistant director of government relations at Virginia Tech.

Patricia Hammer, vice president for academic affairs at Hollins University, has been named assistant dean of administration and analytics in the College of Science at Virginia Tech.

Rabbi Naomi Kalish, supervisor of clinical pastoral education at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, has been named director of the Center for Pastoral Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

David Kopp, a professor and associate dean in the Adrian Dominican School of Education at Barry University, has been named associate vice provost for extended learning.

Laura Osteen, former director of the Center for Leadership and Social Change at Florida State University, has been named assistant vice president for student affairs at Tulane University.

Stephanie Sims, former personal archivist to President Bill Clinton, has been named director of the University Museum and Cultural Center at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.

Shobi Sivadasan, senior associate vice president for graduate and international admissions at the University of New Haven, has been named vice provost for enrollment management at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Deaths

William (Buzz) Alexander, a professor emeritus of English at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, died on September 19. He was 80. Alexander founded the Prison Creative Arts Project at the university in 1990. He taught at the university from 1971 to 2017.

Robert L. Entzminger, former provost and dean at Hendrix College, died on September 22. He was 71. Entzminger also taught English at Virginia Tech and was English-department chair at Rhodes College.

Bruce W. Ferguson, former president of Otis College of Art and Design, died of cancer on September 14. He was 73. Ferguson was president of the college from 2015 until March 2019. He was also dean of the School of Humanities and Social Science at the American University in Cairo, director of the Future Arts Research program at Arizona State University, dean of the School of the Arts at Columbia University, and president and executive director of the New York Academy of Art.

Rex Peebles, assistant commissioner for academic quality and workforce at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, died on September 23. He was 65. Peebles worked in higher education for more than 30 years in various roles, including as vice president for instruction for Midland College and dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Austin Community College.

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