Independent Institution

Dr. Kevin Trainor has been selected as the next dean of the School of Business at Carroll University. Dr. Trainor will assume his official responsibilities on July 1, 2022. Dr. Trainor previously served at Northern Arizona University as a Professor of Marketing in the W.A. Franke College of Business. In prior roles at Northern Arizona, Dr. Trainor also served as the Marketing Area Coordinator and as Associate Dean. Earlier in his career, Dr. Trainor was an assistant professor at Canisius College.

Mr. Mohammed I.T. Bey was selected as the inaugural Vice President for Institutional Inclusion at Carroll University. He began his work on May 1.  Mr. Bey was previously the Chief Officer for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay. He is currently working on a Doctor of Education in Leadership and Learning in Organizations from Vanderbilt University. Bey also holds a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership and Quality and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with an Organizational and Public Relations focus, both from Marian University. Read more here.

Carroll University has appointed Mr. Paul Zinck as its next Vice President for Finance and Administration. Mr. Zinck joins Carroll with extensive experience in higher education finance. Most recently, he served as Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration at St. Louis Community College, and previously held roles at McKendree University and Washington University. His experience demonstrates strong strategic leadership, fiscal management and knowledge of higher education. Prior to working in higher education, he completed a 20-year distinguished military career in the U.S. Army. Mr. Zinck attended McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill., where he received both his Bachelor and his Master of Business Administration. Read more here.

Benedict College has appointed Dr. Akilah Carter-Francique as the new Dean of Education, Health and Human Services. Dr. Carter-Francique joins Benedict College from San Jose State University (SJSU) where she has served the past 3 years as the Executive Director for the Institute for the Study of Sport, Society and Social Change. In addition to her role as Executive Director, she also served as an Associate Professor in the Department of African American Studies where she supported course development inclusive of SJSU’s Ethnic Studies Collaborative and its General Education curriculum. Dr. Carter-Francique earned her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology-Exercise Science and Psychology at the University of Houston and her doctorate in Sport Studies at the University of Georgia at Athens.  Read more here.

Columbia Theological Seminary has announced that Rev. Dr. Victor Aloyo will become Columbia’s 11th president effective August 1, 2022. Currently, Dr. Aloyo is the associate dean of institutional diversity and community engagement at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he is the chief strategist on matters related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Dr. Aloyo is also the organizing and lead pastor of La Iglesia Presbiteriana Nuevas Fronteras, a multicultural community of faith in North Plainfield, New Jersey and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Presbyterian Foundation, Family Promise, the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico, the Muhlenberg Foundation, and Convener of the Covenant Architects Network. He received his bachelor of arts in religious studies and sociology from the College of New Rochelle, an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Pennsylvania. Read more here.

Dr. Colleen Marshall, Ph.D., FNP-C, has been appointed as the first-ever chair of the College's new nursing program and will begin her new role July 1, 2022. Dr. Marshall is the director of graduate programs, The Stabler Department of Nursing, at York College of Pennsylvania. Dr. Marshall brings extensive academic, clinical, and research experience to her new role after three decades in nursing education and clinical practice. After earning her RN, BSN, and MSN degrees, she received her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University, and served a two-year post-doctoral research fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Courtland Center for Transitions and Health T32. Read more here.

Mr. Brent Gustafson has been appointed as Hamline University's new Vice President for Finance and Administration. Mr. Gustafson, a graduate of Hamline University, has spent the last 10 years as the Chief Financial Officer for the University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts (CLA). He worked for the Minnesota Department of Health, the Minnesota Department of Finance and served three years as budget director for Dakota County before serving as a lead fiscal analyst for the Minnesota Senate for two legislative sessions. Mr. Gustafson obtained a Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Read more here.

Fairleigh Dickinson University has announced that Dr. Benjamin Rifkin will become the university’s new Dean of the Maxwell Becton College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Rifkin is currently Professor of Russian and formerly Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Science, Including the School of Education, at Hofstra University. He was previously the Provost at Ithaca College and before that the Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at The College of New Jersey. He has an impressive record of scholarship in Russian studies and language pedagogy.  His service to his discipline have been widely recognized by his peers, as has his advocacy on behalf of students, women, and interfaith dialogue.  He is currently much in demand as a speaker on the events in Eastern Europe and Russia. Dr. Rifkin received his BA and MA in Russian and East European Studies from Yale and his PhD in Slavic Language and Literature from the University of Michigan.  This past year, he was awarded the degree Doctor of Letters honoris causa by Middlebury College. Read more here.

 

Dr. André Stephens has been selected as the next president of Fresno Pacific University. He will assume the presidency on July 1, 2022. Dr. Stephens has 30 years of experience in Christian higher education in California, most recently as vice president for student development at Biola University. Previous to the vice presidency, Stephens was associate vice president of university admissions. Under his leadership, Biola saw 12 consecutive years of enrollment growth. Dr. Stephens completed his B.A. in Communication with a public relations emphasis from Biola, his M.A. in Speech Communication with an emphasis in intercultural/interpersonal communication from California State University at Fullerton and his Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis in higher education administration/student affairs from Claremont Graduate University. Read more here.

Wheaton College has announced the appointment of Dr. Vanessa Wynder Quainoo as Chief Intercultural Engagement Officer.  Dr. Quainoo will serve as a member of the Senior Administration Cabinet and provide leadership for defining and meeting campus-wide diversity and inclusion goals and play a central role in fostering and sustaining a vision for biblical diversity. Dr. Quainoo currently serves as an Associate Professor at the University of Rhode Island, with joint appointments in the Departments of Communications Studies and Africana Studies. Dr. Quainoo’s expertise includes social rhetoric and race discourse. In addition to earning a Bachelor’s in Speech Communication from Wheaton College, she holds a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a Master's in Oral Performance from Western Illinois University. Read more here.