Transitions: U. of Mobile Makes Interim President Permanent, New Provost at Rhodes College

Chief executives

Appointments

Daniel M. Asquino, former president of Mount Wachusett Community College, has been named interim president of Quincy College. He replaces Michael Bellotti, who served as interim president since September 2018.

Lonnie A. Burnett, interim president of the University of Mobile since May, has been named president. He became interim president after Timothy L. Smith stepped down.

Gregory T. DeCinque, interim president of Tidewater Community College and former president of Jamestown Community College, has been named interim president of Thomas Nelson Community College. He will succeed John Dever, who plans to retire in January.

Katherine P. Frank, vice president for academic innovation and a professor of English at Central Washington University, will become chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Stout on March 1. She will replace Patrick Guilfoile, who has served as interim chancellor since Robert Meyer’s retirement in August.

Anthony Jenkins, president of West Virginia State University, will become president of Coppin State University on May 26. He will replace Mickey Burnim, who has served as interim president since Maria Thompson retired in June.

Thomas L. Kiedis, senior pastor of Spanish River Church, in Boca Raton, Fla., will become president of Lancaster Bible College on February 1. He will succeed Peter W. Teague, who plans to step down.

Rowena M. Tomaneng, president of Berkeley City College, will become president of San Jose City College on January 6. She will replace Roland Montemayor, who is serving as acting president.

Marilyn Wells, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Minnesota State University at Mankato, will become chancellor of Pennsylvania State University-Brandywine on January 13. She will replace Cynthia Lightfoot, who has served as interim chancellor since Kristin Woolever retired in July.

Stacy Young, dean of the School of Business and School of Advanced Technology at Southwestern Michigan College, will become president of Montcalm Community College in January. She will succeed Robert C. Ferrentino, who plans to retire.

Chief academic officers

Appointments

Katherine Clay Bassard, interim senior associate dean of faculty affairs in the College of Humanities and Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University, will become provost and vice president for academic affairs at Rhodes College on July 1.

Margaret Fitzgerald, dean of the College of Human Sciences and Education at North Dakota State University, has been named interim provost.

Norberto Grzywacz, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Georgetown University, has been named provost and chief academic officer at Loyola University Chicago.

Other top administrators

Appointments

David G. Cannon, dean of administrative and financial services at the Cabarrus College of Health Sciences, has been named chief officer of finance and administration at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

Alan D. Robertson, former senior vice president and chief financial officer at Morehouse College, will become chief financial officer and vice president for finance and administration at Florida A&M University.

Michael White, chief financial officer at Harvard Medical School, will become vice president and chief financial officer at Brown University on January 27.

Resignations

Jill D. Friedman, vice chancellor for public affairs at Washington University in St. Louis, plans to step down on December 31.

Deans

Appointments

Tristam Aldridge, special-projects assistant at Georgia Southwestern State University, has been named dean of the Effingham Campus at Savannah Technical College.

Jeffrey Gregor, former dean of health professions at Lane Community College, has been named dean of health professions and public service at Waubonsee Community College.

Amy Kristof-Brown, senior associate dean and a professor of management in the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa, has been named interim dean of the college.

Bernard Little, former assistant dean of students at DePaul University, has been named dean of students at Waubonsee Community College.

Kassie Mathis, director of adult education at Jefferson State Community College, will become dean of students at Enterprise State Community College in the spring.

Jeff Miller, career-pathway director at the Minnesota State system, has been named dean of instruction at Ridgewater College.

Roland Mitchell, interim dean of the College of Human Sciences and Education at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge, has been named to the post permanently.

Claudia Mora, deputy division leader of the Chemistry Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory, will become dean of the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin on February 1.

Kimberly Wallin, an associate professor and former associate dean of research and graduate programs in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont, will become dean of the College of Science and Mathematics at North Dakota State University on March 31.

Department chairs

Appointments

Gregory G. Homish, a professor of community health and health behavior in the School of Public Health and Health Professions at University at Buffalo, has been named chair of the school’s department of community health and health behavior.

Other administrators

Appointments

Vicki Dobiyanski, dean of students and director of the Student Government Association at Florida State University, has been named associate vice president for student affairs at Texas A&M University at College Station.

Sabith Khan, an assistant professor of management at California Lutheran University, has been named director of the master-of-public-policy-and-administration program.

Adrienne Morgan, assistant dean of medical-education diversity and inclusion in the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Rochester, has been named associate vice president in the Office of Equity and Inclusion.

Malik Washington, associate director and interim director of Penn Violence Prevention at the University of Pennsylvania, has been named to the post permanently.

John Wensveen, vice provost of academic schools at Miami Dade College, has been named founding executive director and chief innovation officer of the NSU Broward Innovation Center at Nova Southeastern University.

Amber Williams, assistant vice chancellor for academic services and enrollment management at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, will become vice provost for student success at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville on January 1.

Resignations

Harry Elam, vice provost for undergraduate education at Stanford University, plans to step down from that role at the end of the academic year. He will remain as senior vice provost for education and vice president for the arts.

Faculty

Appointments

Lynne Parker, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, has been named deputy chief technology officer of the United States.

Deaths

John K. Mahan, former dean of the Kent State University at Ashtabula campus, died on November 24. He was 83. Mahan arrived at the university in 1969. He moved up from assistant director of administrative services to assistant dean, and then served as dean from 1985 until his retirement in 1995.

James Manilla, who was president of Pima Community College from 1979 to 1988, died on November 20. He was 95. Manilla also served as vice president for development at the University of Arizona for 18 years.

Robert H. Rutford, a president emeritus of the University of Texas at Dallas, died on December 1. Rutford led the university from 1982 to 1994. Before his time in Dallas, he served in various faculty positions at the University of South Dakota and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He was also a researcher focused on glacial geology and geomorphology, primarily in Antarctica, where Mount Rutford and the Rutford Ice Stream are named after him.

Peter Sargent, founding dean of the Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts at Webster University, died on November 27. He was 82. Sargent helped found the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis in 1966 and the university’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts in 1967. He became dean of the college in 1995.

John Tester, a professor emeritus of ecology, evolution, and behavior at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, died on November 16. He was 89. Tester wrote about the state’s ecology in his book Minnesota’s Natural Heritage: An Ecological Perspective (University of Minnesota Press, 1995).

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