Posts Categorized: People

Comings and Goings: Trinity Names a First; Gonzales to GSC; Smith to Vt Tech; Oblinger Leaving Educause

Trinity College named Tufts University Dean Joanne Berger-Sweeney to be its 22nd president ... and the first African-American and first woman to hold the post.  **** The University System of New Hampshire selected Roxanne Gonzales, an academic dean and professor at Regis University in Denver, to be the next president of Granite State College. Gonzales served as a director of Prior Learning As...

New Chiefs at Mitchell, Champlain, Big MOOCs

Mitchell College named Janet L. Steinmayer to be its seventh president, effective July 1, succeeding Mary Ellen Jukoski, following her retirement after 19 years. Donald J. Laackman, president of Harold Washington College in Illinois, was named president of Champlain College, effective July 1, succeeding David F. Finney who is retiring after nine years In the MOOC world, edX named Wendy Cebula, f...

Commencements: Mass. Gov. Patrick Among Speakers

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. Quinnipiac University announced six commencement ceremonies. On Saturday, May 10 at 10 a.m., investor Guy Adami of Fast Money and Drakon Capital will address graduate commencement at the TD Bank Sports Center on Quinnipiac's York Hill Campus. At 3 p.m. in the same location, Linda Schwartz, Connecticut commissioner of veterans affairs, will address health sci...

New Chiefs at Framingham State, Wheaton Among Comings and Goings

The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education approved the appointment of F. Javier Cevallos as the 16th president of Framingham State University, effective July 1. Cevallos has been president of Kutztown University since 2002. He began his education career with posts at the University of Maine and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.****The Wheaton College Board of Trustees voted to app...

NE Higher Ed’s Changing Weather … Introducing NEJHE’s “State Capital Notes”

State Capital Notes ... New England's public education and higher education governance structures have always varied. Some states have designated state agencies focused on higher education; others have an office within a state department of education. The executives at the top—commissioners of higher education, chancellors of state postsecondary systems or directors of state higher educatio...

Among Comings and Goings, WPI Names its First Woman President

Geochemist and former NASA official Laurie Leshin was named the first woman president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, effective July 1. She succeeds Dennis D. Berkey, who had been president for nine years until retiring in May. The national public policy group Demos promoted its vice president of policy and outreach, Heather McGhee, to be its next president, effective March 10. She will suc...

Among Comings and Goings, New Leaders Named at Ben Franklin, Champlain, Maine Ed Dept.

Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology (BFIT) appointed Anthony Benoit to serve as the 12th president in the institution’s 106-year history. Benoit was tapped as interim president of the Boston institution upon the death of President George Chryssis in May 2013. Before joining BFIT, Benoit was director for the technology department and professor of environmental technology at Three Rivers...

Maine Switch and Other Comings and Goings

Henry Bourgeois announced his retirement as president and CEO of the Alfond Scholarship Foundation, where he has worked for the past six years after leading the Maine Development Foundation and the Maine Compact for Higher Education. Colleen Quint, former founding director of the Mitchell Institute, will succeed him as head of the foundation, beginning Jan. 6. **** The Westfield State University B...

Among Comings and Goings, New Leaders at Conn. System, RISD; Leibowitz Says He’ll Leave Middlebury Helm in 2015

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy named Nicholas M. Donofrio, to chair the Board of Regents of the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities, the state's largest higher ed system. Donofrio is a former IBM executive and member of the board. The administration asked the previous chair of the 92,000-student system, Lewis J. Robinson, to step down in August amid a pay-raise scandal and other ...

Maeda Leaving RISD for Silicon Valley Job

Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) President John Maeda announced he will leave RISD at the end of the fall semester to become a design partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, where he will help entrepreneurs build design into their company cultures; he will also chair the eBay Design Advisory Board, working with the company to evolve design capabilities. Watch Maeda’s messa...