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On the Move January 2020: Recent Hirings and Promotions in Higher Education

  • 01/15/20

Sarah Gehlert has been selected to lead the University of Southern California Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work as dean. Gehlert has served as dean of the College of Social Work at the University of South Carolina since 2017.

The Clark University (Worcester, MA) Board of Trustees has announced David B. Fithian, Ph.D., has been unanimously elected as Clark's 10th president. Fithian, a 1987 graduate of Clark, currently serves as executive vice president at the University of Chicago. He begins his new duties on July 1.

The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in Rapid City has named Bill Spindle, Ed.D., as its new vice president for finance and administration. Spindle leaves his previous position as vice president for business affairs and chief financial officer at Texas A&M in San Antonio. He begins his new position on January 21.

Dr. Beth Wolfe has been named the new executive vice president of Enrollment Management at the University of Charleston (UC) in West Virginia. Wolfe comes to UC from Marshall University, where she served for the past 13 years, most recently as the director of Continuing Education. Wolfe started her appointment at UC on January 13.

Laurel Kuxhaus, an associate professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering at Clarkson University, in Potsdam, NY, has recently been named program director of the Biomechanics & Mechanobiology Program within the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation, Directorate for Engineering at the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Kevin Finn has been named dean of the School of Nursing & Health Sciences and director of clinical partnerships at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, NH, and will begin his role in late January. Finn was most recently the associate dean for the School of Health Sciences at Merrimack College in North Andover, MA.

The Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (Blacksburg) has named Dr. M. Daniel Givens as its new dean. He will take over the position in June. Givens is currently the associate dean for academic affairs at the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine and a professor there in the Department of Pathobiology.

Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA, has selected Markesha Henderson as its next director of athletics. Henderson joins the department after serving as an associate professor and as director of the Center for Innovative Teaching, Learning and Engagement at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta. She began her new duties earlier this month.

Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, KY, has named Matt Roan as director of Athletics. Roan has been serving as director of Athletics at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA. He will assume his new duties in early February.

Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, NC,  has announced that Brian Gann will become vice president of Enrollment and Student Services on February 14. Immediately prior to this appointment he served as vice president of Student Services at Jackson State Community College in Tennessee. Before Jackson State, he worked in the Alabama community college system for 14 years.

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