Transitions: Marquette U. Names New President; Georgetown U. President Steps Down

CHIEF EXECUTIVES
Appointments
Kimo Ah Yun, acting president and provost at Marquette University, has been named president.

Eric Blackhurst, a member of the Board of Trustees at Alma College, has been named interim president.

Daniel G. Lugo, president of Queens University of Charlotte, has been named president of Trinity College, in Connecticut.

Darrin Martin has been named president of Bluefield State University, in West Virginia, after serving as interim president since November 2023.

Daniel Pullin, president of Texas Christian University, will become chancellor after Victor Boschini’s resignation.

Omar Torres, assistant superintendent/vice president of instruction at College of the Canyons, has been named president of De Anza College.

John W. Wells, chancellor and former president of Emory & Henry College, in Virginia, has been named president of Young Harris College, in Georgia.

Resignations
John J. DeGioia, president of Georgetown University, will step down and return to the faculty after suffering a stroke in June.

Henry C. Foley, president of the New York Institute of Technology, will step down in June 2025. Jerry Balentine, provost and executive vice president, will succeed him as president.

Helene Gayle, president of Spelman College, will step down after taking a leave of absence.

Retirements
Jane Close Conoley, president of California State University at Long Beach, will retire in June 2025.

CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICERS
Appointments
Soyica Diggs Colbert, vice president for interdisciplinary initiatives at Georgetown University, has been named interim provost.

Noemi Custodia-Lora, vice president for community relations and the Lawrence campus of Northern Essex Community College, in Massachusetts, has been named vice president for academic affairs and work-force development at Urban College of Boston.

Carrie Daninhirsch, associate chief academic officer for academic and student affairs at Rasmussen University, in Minnesota, has been named provost.

Sarah Feldner, dean of the Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University, has been named acting provost after Kimo Ah Yun was named president.

Carlnita Greene, dean of the behavioral, social-sciences, and global learning division at Bunker Hill Community College, has been named vice president for academic affairs at Cape Cod Community College.

Karl Haushalter, chair of the department of chemistry and a professor of chemistry and biology at Harvey Mudd College, has been named vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty.

David Rohrbacher, a professor of classics at New College of Florida, has been named provost and vice president for academic affairs.

OTHER TOP ADMINISTRATORS
Appointments
Christie Anglade, interim vice president for campus life and interim dean of students at Emerson College, has been named vice president for student affairs at the college.

David Bennett, senior vice president for development and alumni relations at Howard University, has been named vice president for university advancement at Carnegie Mellon University.

Kristie Crumley, associate provost for student affairs and marketing at Carroll Community College, in Maryland, has been named vice president for academic and student affairs and dean of faculty.

Casey Gill, vice president for student development and dean of students at Wittenberg University, has been named vice president for student development and chief student-experience officer at the University of Dayton.

Kimberly Guyer, interim associate vice president and dean of students at Florida State University, has been named vice president for college life at Muhlenberg College.

Michele Kitson, director of mission advancement at St. Marcus Lutheran School, in Wisconsin, has been named vice president for advancement at Alverno College.

Michelle Kloss, associate provost for assessment and institutional effectiveness at Carroll Community College, in Maryland, has been named vice president for effectiveness, integrity, and accountability.

Michael J. Morsberger, senior vice president and leader of academic medicine practice at GOBEL, a health-care philanthropy consulting firm, and a former vice president for advancement at the University of Central Florida, has been named vice president for institutional advancement at the University of the Virgin Islands.

Eric Roedl, deputy athletic director and chief operating officer at the University of Oregon, has been named vice president and director of athletics at Villanova University.

Melissa Shaffmaster, senior director of strategic communications in university relations at Cornell University has been named vice president for marketing and communications at Haverford College.

Braden Shain, chief development officer for the College of Information and Communications at the University of South Carolina, has been named vice president for advancement at Coker University.

Brian Smith, associate vice president for finance at the University of Michigan, has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer at the University of Texas at Austin.

Dan Stephens, chief financial officer of the University of West Georgia Foundations, has been named vice president for finance at George Mason University.

Thomas W. Stokes, interim vice president for finance and chief financial officer at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been named to the post permanently.

Chris Stovall, assistant vice president and controller at Midwestern State University, in Texas, has been named vice president for administration and finance.

Kim Toatley, associate vice president for financial and research administration for the Georgia Tech Research Institute, has been named vice president for finance and planning and chief financial officer for the institute.

Nefertiti Walker, deputy vice president for academic affairs, student affairs, and equity at the University of Massachusetts, has been named senior vice president for academic affairs, student affairs, and equity.

Rassheedah Watts, associate vice president for equity and inclusion and vice president for equity, inclusion, and culture at North Hennepin Community College, has been named interim vice chancellor for equity and inclusion at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.

Resignations
Kimberly Chestnut, vice president for student affairs at the University of Wyoming, has stepped down.

Retirements
Katherine Ankerson, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, will retire at the end of the year.

DEANS
Appointments
Kati Tusinski Berg, associate dean of academic affairs in the Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University, has been named acting dean of the college.

Dean Culpepper, an associate professor and chair of health and physical education at Texas A&M University-Commerce, has been named dean of the College of Health Sciences at Sul Ross State University.

Lesley DeNardis, vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty at Holy Apostles College and Seminary, in Connecticut, has been named dean of the division of arts and sciences at Rivier University, in New Hampshire.

Adrienne Freng, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Wyoming, has been named interim dean of the college. She replaces Scott Turpen, who has been named interim provost.

John Lucas, former medical director in hospitalist medicine at Carilion New River Valley Medical Center, in Virginia, has been named founding dean and chief academic officer of the Illinois College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Chicago School.

Raj Mitra, a professor of medicine and associate dean of clinical affairs in the University of Central Florida’s College of Medicine and chief medical officer at UCF Health, has been named dean of the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine and chief academic officer at Premier Health.

Pamela Norris, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and former vice provost for research at George Washington University, has been named dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Delaware.

Denise Soares, assistant dean and director of graduate studies and interim director of the National Center for School-University Partnerships at the University of Mississippi, has been named dean of the School of Education at the University of West Florida.

Resignations
Hazel Sive, dean of the College of Science at Northeastern University, will step down in June 2025.

OTHER ADMINISTRATORS
Appointments
Jessica Bell Brown, curator and head of contemporary art at the Baltimore Museum of Art, has been named executive director of the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University.

John Dolbow, a professor in the department of mechanical engineering and materials science and professor of mathematics at Duke University, has been named associate vice president for research and innovation.

Robert B. Earl Jr., director of the Office of Career Preparation and Professional Development at St. Joseph’s University, has been named director of the Center for Career Development at the City University of New York Borough of Manhattan Community College.

Stephanie Elsky, an associate professor of English at Rhodes College, has been named director of the college’s Pearce Shakespeare Endowment.

Alyssa H. Hasty, senior associate dean of faculty in the basic sciences and a professor of molecular physiology and biophysics at Vanderbilt University, has been named vice provost and senior associate dean for faculty affairs and career development at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Scott Marshall, district communications coordinator for Springboro Schools, in Ohio, has been named director of external relations at Sinclair Community College.

Michael T. Murphy, senior director of facilities management and campus operations at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been named assistant vice provost for facilities and campus services.

Enrico Pontelli, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at New Mexico State University, has been named special advisor to the provost for artificial intelligence.

Eric M. Saidel, interim senior director of human resources at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been named assistant vice provost for human resources.

Ron Samul, assistant director of Thames, a college transition program at Mitchell College, has been named director of the program.

Anita Sharif-Hyder, senior associate director of the universitywide committee on sexual misconduct at Yale University, has been named dean of students and assistant dean of academic affairs and student life in the School of Management.

Colby Tofel-Grehl, an associate professor of STEM education in the School of Teacher Education and Leadership at Utah State University, has been named vice dean of teacher education and school and community partnerships and an associate professor of science education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Mariana Valdes-Fauli, assistant vice president for service and experience excellence at the University of Miami, has been named associate vice president for student registration and financial services at the University of Pennsylvania.

Nikos Varelas, interim senior vice provost for academic programs, student success, and effectiveness at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has been named to the post permanently.

Korrie Lynn Williamson, senior director of enrollment services at Troy University, has been named associate dean of student services for student engagement and leadership.

Retirements
Lubbe Levin, associate vice chancellor for campus human resources at the University of California at Los Angeles, plans to retire in the summer of 2025.

FACULTY
Appointments
Wendy Osefo, an assistant professor in the School of Education at the Johns Hopkins University and star of the reality-television show The Real Housewives of Potomac, has been named a visiting professor at Wesleyan University, in Connecticut.

ORGANIZATIONS
Appointments
Kate Shaw, deputy secretary for higher education at the Pennsylvania Department of Education, has been named executive director of the Pennsylvania State Board of Higher Education.

DEATHS
Bill Battle, who served as director of athletics at the University of Alabama from 2013 to 2017, died at 82.

Marshall Brain, director of the engineering entrepreneurs program at North Carolina State University, died on November 20. He was 63. Brain founded HowStuffWorks.com in 1998.

Lou Carnesecca, who coached men’s basketball at St. John’s University, in New York, from 1965 to 1970 and 1973 to 1992, died on November 30. He was 99.

Mortimer F. LaPointe, who coached men’s lacrosse at Bowdoin College from 1969 to 1990, died on November 24. He was 92.

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