Transitions: New President at West Virginia U.

CHIEF EXECUTIVES
Appointments
Michael T. Benson, president of Coastal Carolina University, has been named president of West Virginia University.

The Rev. John T. Butler, vice president for university mission and ministry at Boston College, has been named president.

John Chenoweth, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, has been named interim chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at River Falls.

Sylvia Cox, executive vice president and chief academic officer at Southeastern Community College, has been named president of Rockingham Community College. Both colleges are in North Carolina.

James E. Davis, senior vice president and chief operating officer at the University of Texas at Austin, has been named interim president.

Wendy Elmore, executive vice president and provost at Lamar State College-Orange, has been named president.

Andrea Goldsmith, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton University, has been named president of Stony Brook University.

Ryan C. Hendrickson, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Eastern Illinois University, has been named president of the University of St. Francis, in Illinois.

Mark Johnson, director of the Doctor of Ministry program at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, has been named president of Louisiana Christian University.

Elizabeth Kiss, chief executive of the Rhodes Trust, has been named president of Union College, in New York.

Kristin L. Mallory, vice president for academic affairs at Wor-Wic Community College, in Maryland, has been named president of Westmoreland County Community College, in Pennsylvania.

Dean G. McCurdy, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Ivy Tech Community College, has been named president at Colby-Sawyer College.

Heather Hulburt Norris has been named chancellor of Appalachian State University after serving as interim chancellor since April 2024.

Dan Shipp, president of Pittsburg State University, in Kansas, has been named president of Maryville University, in Missouri.

Muddassir Siddiqi, vice chancellor for instructional innovation and digital strategy for the Houston Community College system, has been named president of the College of DuPage.

Shane B. Smeed, president of Park University, in Missouri, has been named president of Utah Tech University.

Aly Williams, vice president for academic affairs for the College of Arts and Sciences and chief academic officer at Indiana Wesleyan University, has been named president of Midland University, in Nebraska.

Resignations
Jane Wood, president of Bluffton University, in Ohio, has stepped down. J. Alexander Sider, the university’s vice president for academic affairs and academic dean, has been named acting president.

Retirements
Marty Cavalluzzi, president of Olympic College, in Washington, will retire in September.

Royce Frazier, president of Barclay College, in Kansas, will retire in June.

David Schecter, president of East Georgia State College, will retire this summer.

CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICERS
Appointments
Marah Jacobson, associate provost for academic and student affairs and Title IX coordinator at Augsburg University, in Minnesota, has been named provost and vice president for academic affairs at Bemidji State University.

Wesley Kisting, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Wisconsin at River Falls, has been named provost and dean of the faculty at Hamline University.

Patrick Martin, vice president for government-sponsored programs and research at Johnson C. Smith University, has been named provost.

Lisa Jordan Powell, head of the STEM division and director of the Center for Human and Environmental Sustainability at Sweet Briar College, has been named vice president for academic affairs, dean of the college, and chief sustainability officer.

Eileen Strempel, dean of the Herb Alpert School of Music at the University of California at Los Angeles, has been named vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of San Diego.

OTHER TOP ADMINISTRATORS
Appointments
Rob Flot, vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Occidental College, has been named vice president and dean of student affairs at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Kristy L. Michel, acting vice president for administration and finance at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, has been named vice president for finance and administration at Loyola University Maryland.

Sergio Pérez, director of the Center for Inclusion and Advocacy, diversity officer, and adviser to the president at Loras College, in Iowa, has been named vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Southern Connecticut State University.

Amee Spondike, senior executive director of museum advancement at the Rhode Island School of Design, has been named vice president for advancement at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Timothy C. Summers, executive director of cloud- and advanced-network-engineering services at Arizona State University, has been named vice president for information technology and chief information officer at Morgan State University.

Krista S. Walton, associate vice president for research operations and infrastructure at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has been named vice chancellor for research and innovation at North Carolina State University.

Retirements
Martin Wood, senior vice chancellor for university advancement at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, will retire in August.

DEANS
Appointments
Peter Atkinson, a professor of genetics in the department of entomology at the University of California at Riverside, has been named dean of the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.

Tim Bisping, dean of the Nelson Rusche College of Business at Stephen F. Austin State University, has been named dean of the College of Business at the University of Central Arkansas.

Marius Boboc, chair of the department of teacher education in the Levin College of Public Affairs and Education at Cleveland State University, has been named dean of the College of Education at the University of Missouri at St. Louis.

Michael J. Bouchard, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and of microbiology and immunology at Drexel University’s College of Medicine, has been named dean of the College of Graduate Studies at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Chris Childers, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Pittsburg State University, in Kansas, has been named to the post permanently.

Carrie Forbes, dean of the School of Undergraduate Studies and the University Library at Southern Oregon University, has been named dean of the Milner Library at Illinois State University.

Ginger Gummelt, chair of the department of sociology, social work, criminal justice, and anthropology at Lamar University, has been named dean of the College of Business, Health, and Human Services at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Patrick E. Hopkins, vice dean of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University at Bloomington, has been named dean of the school.

Nicola F. Mason, chair of the department of teaching, learning, and educational leadership at Eastern Kentucky University, has been named dean of the Ernst & Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education at Morehead State University.

Alex Orso, a professor in the College of Computing and director of the Scientific Software Engineering Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has been named dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia.

Katherine Polasek, chair of the kinesiology department at the State University of New York College at Cortland, has been named dean of the university’s School of Professional Studies.

Devesh Ranjan, chair and professor of mechanical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has been named dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Lisa Riedle, a professor and department head of applied engineering and technical management at the University of Northern Iowa, has been named dean of the Crossland College of Technology at Pittsburg State University, in Kansas.

Miloš Savić, a professor in the department of mathematics and director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity at the University of Oklahoma, has been named dean of the College of Professional and Continuing Studies.

Paula H. Song, a professor and chair of the department of health administration at Virginia Commonwealth University, has been named dean of the College of Public Health at Ohio State University.

Jennifer Smolos Steele, dean of the School of Visual and Performing Arts at College of the Canyons, in California, has been named dean of Shenandoah Conservatory at Shenandoah University.

Katy Tangenberg, dean of the School of Psychology, Family, and Community at Seattle Pacific University, has been named dean of the Cástulo de la Rocha College of Health and Community Well-Being at the University of La Verne.

Peter Trapa, dean of the College of Science at the University of Utah, has been named the inaugural vice provost and senior dean of the Colleges and Schools of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Bryan Zugelder, associate dean of academic excellence, research, innovation, and policy at James Madison University, has been named dean of the College of Education at Illinois State University.

Resignations
Michael J. Feuer, dean of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at George Washington University, will step down in July.

Shankar K. Prasad, dean of the School of Professional Studies at Brown University, will step down to become chief strategy officer at Carnegie, a higher-education marketing and enrollment-strategy firm.

Retirements
James Bundy, dean of the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, will retire next year.

John Kirby, dean of the College of the Environment and Life Sciences at the University of Rhode Island, will retire.

OTHER ADMINISTRATORS
Appointments
Marc Austin, dean of AU Online and associate provost at Augusta University, has been named vice provost and managing director for Montclair Unbound at Montclair State University.

Debra Bourdeau, associate dean of student success and academics and an associate professor of English at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide, has been named vice provost of online learning and educational innovation at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

David Camps, vice president of operations at H4 Enterprises LLC, has been named assistant vice chancellor for research administration at North Carolina A&T State University.

Harpreet S. Dhillon, a professor of engineering and associate director of Wireless@Virginia Tech, has been appointed associate dean of research and innovation in the College of Engineering.

N. Lincoln Hanks, a professor of music in the Seaver College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences at Pepperdine University, has been named divisional dean of fine arts in the college.

Daniel G. Kelly II, academic director of graduate programs and a clinical professor in the School of Professional Studies’ Preston Robert Tisch Institute for Global Sport at New York University, has been named associate dean of the Tisch Institute for Global Sport.

Tiffani-Dawn Sykes, a player-development assistant and adviser to the head football coach at the University of Maryland, has been named associate vice president for intercollegiate athletics at Virginia State University.

Elys Vasquez-Iscan, coordinator for the community-health unit and director of special initiatives at Hostos Community College, has been named associate dean of the School of Health Sciences, Human Services, and Nursing at the City University of New York Herbert H. Lehman College.

Resignations
Bernard Muir, director of athletics at Stanford University, will step down at the end of the academic year.

Retirements
Jon Jaudon, executive director of athletics at Dalton State College, will retire at the end of March.

Stephen Pultz, assistant vice president for enrollment at the University of San Diego, will be retire in June, after 25 years at the university.

ORGANIZATIONS
Appointments
Jonathan R. Alger, president of American University, has been named chair of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Colleges and Universities.

Andrew J. Allen, an associate professor of music at Georgia College & State University, has been named president of the North American Saxophone Alliance.

DEATHS
David L. Boren, who served as president of the University of Oklahoma from 1994 to 2018, died on February 20. He was 83. Boren also served as governor of Oklahoma and represented the state in the U.S. Senate.

Peter Elbow, a professor emeritus of English at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, died on February 6. He was 89. Elbow wrote several books on writing, including Writing Without Teachers (1973).

Jeffrey Jordan, a professor of philosophy at the University of Delaware, died of cancer on February 14. He was 66.

Sue Y. Luckey, a former faculty member and chair of the department of information sciences in the College of Business at Morehead State University, died on February 27. She was 90.

The Rev. Martin E. Marty, a professor emeritus in the University of Chicago’s Divinity School, died on February 25. He was 97. Marty won a National Book Award for his work Righteous Empire: The Protestant Experience in America (1972).

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