President/Chancellors

The Texas Southern University has appointed Dr. Lesia L. Crumpton-Young as TSU’s 13th president. Dr. Crumpton-Young assumed her role on July 1, 2021. Dr. Crumpton-Young has a distinguished career in higher education, including her most recent post as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Crumpton-Young earned a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and a doctorate degree in industrial engineering from Texas A&M University, and a Master of Business Administration from Tennessee State University. She holds the distinction of being the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in engineering. Read more here.

The Washington Center has appointed Ms. Kimberly Churches as its first female Chief Executive Officer in its 46-year history. Ms. Churches most recently served as the chief executive officer for the American Association of University Women (AAUW) where she developed and implemented a comprehensive strategic plan. Under Churches’ leadership, AAUW is in its best financial position in more than a decade. Prior to AAUW, Churches served as managing director for the Brookings Institution. Before her promotion to managing director she served as the vice president for institutional advancement. Her accomplishments built on prior successful efforts as associate vice chancellor at the University of Denver and director of development at the University of North Florida. 

The California Institute of Integral Studies has selected S. Brock Blomberg, Ph.D., as its sixth President. He will begin serving on September 1. Before arriving at CIIS, Dr. Blomberg was President of Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA, and Dean of the Robert Day School of Economics and Finance at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, CA, where he also served as the Peter K. Barker Professor of Economics and the George R. Roberts Fellow. Earlier, Dr. Blomberg worked as faculty at Wellesley College, and was a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. Dr. Blomberg is an internationally known political economist, scholar, and author, with deep roots in national and global economic policy. He served as a senior economist for the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and was the U.S. Representative to the Economic Committee for Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation. He holds a BS in Economics, with honors, from the University of Tampa, and received his MA and PhD in Economics from Johns Hopkins University. Read more here.

Mount Mercy University has announced the appointment of Dr. Todd Olson as its 11th president. Dr. Olson will begin his duties as president on July 21, 2021. Since 2003, Dr. Todd Olson has served as the Vice President for Student Affairs at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. A Minnesota native, Dr. Olson earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota-Morris and went on to receive his master’s degree in counseling psychology at the University of Kansas. He earned his PhD in higher education from the University of Denver, where he also worked in a variety of positions and was one of the founders of the Pioneer Leadership Program, a signature academic and residential learning program. Read more here.

The Board of Directors of the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research has named Dr. Jacqueline Bussie, an award-winning author, speaker, public theologian, and religion professor at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, as its 5th executive director. Dr. Bussie will begin her new role on September 1, 2021. She received her PhD in Theology, Ethics, and Culture from the University of Virginia, where she was the Graduate School Dissertation Year Fellowship Winner in 2001-2 among other distinctions. Dr. Bussie also holds a MA in Religion from Yale University and a BA from Davidson College, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with Honors. Read more here.

The Kansas Board of Regents has appointed Dr. Richard Muma as the 15th president of Wichita State University, effective immediately. Dr. Muma has been serving as interim president of Wichita State since September 2020. He has been a cornerstone of the campus community for over 25 years as a professor, department chair, executive vice president and provost, acting president and most recently, interim president.

Dr. Dione Dorsey Somerville has been selected as the next president of Owens Community College. Dr. Somerville serves as executive vice president at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo, Iowa. Prior to Hawkeye, she was vice president for student affairs at Bloomsburg University. Dr. Somerville was dean of students at Iowa State University prior to Bloomsburg. Before beginning at Iowa State, Dr. Somerville served as director of enrollment services at Lorain County Community College. Dr. Somerville earned a doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania, master’s degree in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University, and bachelor’s degree in English/Writing from Ohio Northern University. Dr. Somerville was a Fellow at the Association of Governing Boards Institute for Leadership and Governance in its inaugural year. Dr. Somerville participated in the Harvard University Institute for Education Management and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ Millennium Leadership Institute. Read more here.

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents unanimously confirmed Joanne Li, Ph.D., CFA, as the 16th chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Dr. Li will become the first woman of color to serve as UNO chancellor and the first Asian-American in the history of the University of Nebraska system to hold an executive leadership role.

The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, has announced Dr. Barbara J. Wilson as the 22nd President of the University of Iowa. Dr. Wilson brings extensive leadership experience to her role as UI President. Since 2016, she has served as Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs for the University of Illinois System, which enrolls more than 90,000 students across three main campuses and includes a 462-bed hospital.

Nevada State College has chosen Dr. DeRionne Pollard as their next President. Dr. Pollard is currently the President of Montgomery College, the largest Community College in Maryland, where she has served since 2010.  Prior to being named president of Montgomery College, she served as the administrative and instructional president of Las Positas College in California. Dr. Pollard earned a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University in 1993, a master’s degree in English from Iowa State University in 1995, and a Ph.D., with a specialization in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, from Loyola University in 2005. Read more here.