Posts Categorized: Comings and Goings

New Chair at UMass; Rose Rambles to Bowdoin; Changing Principals at Exeter

Woolridge Comings and Goings ... Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker appointed Victor Woolridge to chair the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees. A vice president of Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers and current UMass trustee, Woolridge will succeed Henry M. Thomas III, as chair. Thomas, president of the Urban League of Springfield, will stay on the UMass board. Woolridge's first prio...

New Leader of Educause; Slaughter at Tuck; Maine CCs Appoint System Lawyer as Interim Chief

Comings and Goings ... Educause named Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Senior Vice Chancellor John O'Brien to be its next president and CEO, O'Brien succeeds Diana G. Oblinger, who has led the the higher education technology association since 2008. In October 2012, Oblinger addressed more than 400 New England educators gathered by NEBHE on the topic of Game Changers Revolutionizin...

Longtime Maine CC Leader Resigns Under Pressure from Guv

Comings and Goings ... John Fitzsimmons, president of the Maine Community College System for almost 25 years, resigned under pressure from Gov. Paul LePage, who criticized him for being unresponsive to the governor’s higher education priorities. System trustees expressed support for Fitzsimmons shortly before he stepped down. The Connecticut Board of Education named Dianna Wentzell to le...

Caret Leaving UMass for Maryland; Charter School Advocate Named Mass Ed Secy

Comings and Goings ... The University of Maryland confirmed that Robert Caret will resign as president of the University of Massachusetts system to take over as the new Maryland chancellor. Massachusetts Gov.-elect Charlie Baker named James A. Peyser, a charter school advocate and former chair of the state Board of Education, to be his secretary of education. The 17-campus University of North C...

Lawmakers Union-ize … Plus

Comings and Goings ... Former speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives Christopher G. Donovan was hired to be a field representative with the Connecticut Education Association, the state's largest teachers union. Another legislative leader, Donald E. Williams Jr., the outgoing Democratic leader of the Connecticut Senate was recently named the association's deputy director of profession...

New Presidents … and a Sea Change

Comings and Goings ... James Mabry, vice president of academic affairs for Mesa Community College in Arizona, was named the next president of Middlesex Community College in Massachusetts. He will succeed Carole Cowan, who was Middlesex president from 1990 to 2014 and chaired NEBHE from 2002 to 2004. Joyce B. Hedlund was named interim president of the University of Maine at Machias, effective Ja...

Franklin Pierce Draws Card; Former Conn. Senate Prez to Work for Teachers Union

Comings and Goings ... Andrew H. Card, former White House chief of staff and acting dean of the George H.W. Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, was named the fifth president of Franklin Pierce University, effective in January 2015. Donald E. Williams Jr., outgoing Democratic leader of the Connecticut Senate, was named the Connecticut Education Associati...

New Presidents at Middlebury, Bridgewater State U; Strong Women Group

Laurie Patton Comings and Goings ... Middlebury College Trustees named Laurie L. Patton, dean of Duke University’s Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and the Robert F. Durden Professor of Religion, as Middlebury’s next president, effective in July. She will succeed Ronald D. Liebowitz, who has beens president since July 2004. Bridgewater State University’s Board of Trustees ...

Prez Changes in Vt; Hohn to Leave Immigrant Learning Center

Comings and Goings ... Southern Vermont College (SVC) selected Buena Vista University Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty David Rees Evans to be the ninth president of SVC, succeeding President Karen Gross. Barbara E. Murphy announced she will retire as president of Johnson State College on June 30, 2015, after a 32-year career in Vermont higher education, including 14 ye...

Mass Higher Ed Commish to Step Down; Reid to Leave Saint Joseph Presidency

Comings and Goings ... Massachusetts Higher Education Commissioner Richard M. Freeland told the state Board of Higher Education that he will leave his post at the end of the 2014–15 academic year. Freeland has been a member of NEBHE's board since his appointment as Massachusetts chancellor in 2009. As chancellor and in his previous role as president of Northeastern University, Freeland wr...