Transitions: New Chief at Baltimore City Community College, Heritage U. Names Provost

Chief executives

Appointments

Connie Green, retired president of Tillamook Bay Community College, has been named interim president of Blue Mountain Community College. She will replace Cam Preus, who will leave at the end of this month to become executive director of the Oregon Community College Association.

Mark A. Hussey, vice chancellor and dean emeritus for agriculture and life sciences at Texas A&M University, has been named the sole finalist for president of Texas A&M University at Kingsville. He will succeed Steve Tallant, who plans to retire at the end of January

Debra L. McCurdy, president of Rhodes State College since 2006, will become president of Baltimore City Community College in the spring semester. She will replace James H. Johnson Jr., who has served as interim president since Gordon F. May’s retirement in July.

Patricia Sims, dean of the College of Education at Athens State University, will become president of J.F. Drake State Community and Technical College on December 1.

Stanley T. Wearden, senior vice president and provost of Columbia College Chicago, will become president of Methodist University on January 1. He will succeed Ben Hancock, who retired in May.

Resignations

Steven R. DiSalvo, president of Saint Anselm College since 2013, plans to step down on June 30.

Jim Towey, president of Ave Maria University since 2011, plans to step down on June 30, 2020.

Retirements

Gene Couch, president of Virginia Highlands Community College since 2014, plans to retire on June 30.

Keith Pretty, president of Northwood University, in Michigan, since 2006, plans to retire on June 30.

Chief academic officers

Appointments

Maurice Edington, vice president for strategic planning, analysis, and institutional effectiveness at Florida A&M University, has been named provost.

Suzanne Blum Malley, senior associate provost and associate professor of english and creative writing at Columbia College Chicago, has been named interim provost.

Landon Pirius, interim vice president for academic affairs at the Colorado Community College System, has been named vice president for academic and student affairs.

Bradford Smith, dean of the School of Fine Arts at Belhaven University, has been named provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Kazuhiro Sonoda, interim provost at Heritage University, has been named provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Other top administrators

Appointments

Diane Duffy, business services director at the University of Colorado at Denver, will become executive vice president and chief strategy officer at the Colorado Community College System on November 1.

Michael Holland, executive director of the Center for Urban Science and Progress at New York University, will become the first vice chancellor for science policy and research strategies at the University of Pittsburgh on October 22.

Kendall Isaac, general counsel and chief of staff at Fort Valley State University, has been named general counsel at Dickinson College.

Andrew B. Shaindlin, consulting vice president for the philanthropy-management consulting firm, Grenzebach Glier and Associates, will become vice president for alumni relations at Brown University on December 3.

Bryan Stewart, vice president of the Trinity River Campus of Tarrant County College, has been named president of the Medical Campus of Miami Dade College.

Retirements

Winston B. Crisp, vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will retire later this month.

Joan King, associate vice president and chief university budget officer at Washington State University, retired on October 19.

Abbie Robinson-Armstrong, vice president for intercultural affairs at Loyola Marymount University, plans to retire on May 31.

Deans

Appointments

Reyna Anaya, assistant director of community standards and conflict resolution at the University of Northern Colorado, has been named dean of student affairs at the Community College of Aurora.

Michael Flores, a professor of history at North Orange County Community College, has been named dean of instruction at Klamath Community College.

Bryan Hall, a professor of philosophy at St. John’s University, in New York, will become academic dean and professor in the College of Contemporary Liberal Studies at Regis University on January 18.

Meghan McBride, assistant registrar at Albany State University, has been named dean of adult education at Georgia Piedmont Technical College.

Resignations

Nancy A. Bagranoff, dean of the Robins School of Business at University of Richmond, plans to step down and return to the faculty as a professor of accounting on June 30.

Other administrators

Appointments

Moira Baylson, vice president for regional public affairs at Citizens Bank, has been named director of strategic communications and community engagement at Pennsylvania State University at Abington.

Joseph Antenucci Becherer, chief curator and vice president of sculpture and horticulture, collections and exhibitions at Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park and a professor in the history of art at Aquinas College, has been named director of the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame.

Terri Lyne Carrington, chair in performance at Berklee College of Music, has been named artistic director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.

María Carla Chicuén, special projects assistant to the president at Miami Dade College, has been named executive director of CasaCuba, a new initiative to foster global understanding of Cuban affairs and culture, at Florida International University.

Eric Davis, chief of staff in the Minnesota Department of Transportation, will become vice chancellor for human resources at Minnesota State Colleges and Universities on January 7.

DeeDee Dayhoff, a licensed clinical social worker in Counseling and Psychological Services at Indiana University at Bloomington, has been named assistant dean for student services and concerns.

Carol Gering, executive director of e-learning and distance education at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, will become associate vice provost of online and distance education at the University of Oregon on October 29.

Felipe Hinojosa, an associate professor of history and Latina/o studies at Texas A&M University, became director of the university’s Carlos H. Cantu Hispanic Education and Opportunity Endowment on September 15.

Sara Ivey Lucas, an assistant director in the office of the dean of students at Indiana University at Bloomington, has been named assistant dean for student care and parents.

Avis McMillon, executive director of college relations at Brookdale Community College, has been named executive director of marketing and communication in the Division of Advocacy and Community Engagement at the College of Southern Maryland.

Vernon Meacham, director of development in the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has been named the chief advancement officer for the college.

Troy Riddle, assistant dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion at John Marshall Law School, in Chicago, has been named assistant dean of diversity and inclusion at Albany Law School.

Ryan Ross, president and chief executive of the Urban Leadership Foundation of Colorado, will become associate vice president for student affairs and director of diversity and inclusion at the Colorado Community College System on November 5.

Nireata D. Seals, associate dean for student access and achievement at City University of New York LaGuardia Community College, has been named vice president for student affairs.

Joshua Stevens, director of admissions at Earlham College, has been named director of admission at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Forrest Stuart, associate vice president for enrollment management and director of financial aid at Furman University, will become assistant vice president for financial aid at Lafayette College on January 1.

Willie L. Williams, director of education and outreach in the Office of Diversity and Engagement at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering, has been named director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Pennsylvania State University at Abington.

Faculty

Appointments

Reagan Barnett, an adjunct professor of health sciences in online programs at Liberty University, has been named an assistant professor of biology in the College of Arts and Sciences at University of Mobile.

Amanda Clark, a former instructional coach at Des Moines Public Schools, has been named an instructor of education at Central College.

Heather L. Evans, a clinical educator in obstetrics and neonatal intensive care with Eastern Connecticut Health Network, has been named an assistant professor of nursing at University of Saint Joseph.

Pavithra Premaratne, a recent doctoral recipient in aerospace engineering at Iowa State University, has been named an assistant professor of physics and engineering at Central College.

Gina Rosich, a social worker with expertise in homeless policies and services, gerontology, and LGBTQ rights and former program director at the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens, has been named an assistant professor of social work and equitable community practice at University of Saint Joseph.

Kristina Spohr, an associate professor international history at the London School of Economics and Political Science, has been named the first Helmut Schmidt Distinguished Professor in the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in partnership with the German Academic Exchange Service.

Jessica Vialva, an assistant professor of mathematics education at City University of New York, York College, has been named an assistant professor of education at University of Saint Joseph.

Kelley Wilson, a licensed psychologist who has been in clinical practice since 2015, has been named an assistant professor of psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences at University of Mobile.

Retirements

Lawrence M. Krauss, a professor of physics and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University, plans to retire at the end of the academic year. A university investigation found him in violation of sexual misconduct policy, and he has been on paid leave since March. He has denied that he engaged in any sexual assault or harassment.

Organizations

Appointments

Ann Forsyth, a professor of urban planning and director of the master in urban planning degree program at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, will become editor of the Journal of the American Planning Association on January 1.

Deaths

Colleen Conway-Welch, dean emerita of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, died of cancer on October 12. She was 74. Conway-Welch became dean of the school in 1984 and oversaw the creation of its Ph.D. program in 1993 and its Doctor of Nursing Practice program in 2008. She retired in 2013 and was elected to the Modern Healthcare Hall of Fame in 2017.

Helen Neville, a professor emerita of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Oregon, died on October 12, after a long illness. She was 72. Neville joined the university in 1995, the same year she founded the Brain Development Lab. She directed the lab until her retirement in 2016. In 2013, she received the William James Fellow Award from the Association for Psychological Science, named for the “father of American psychology,” in recognition of her influence in the field.

James C. White a professor emeritus in the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and dairy food safety expert, died on October 2, in Ithaca. He was 101. White began his career at the university as an associate professor of dairy industry in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in the 1940s, where he worked for 27 before switching to the School of Hotel Administration. He served as dean of the school from 1981 until his retirement in 1983.

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