Public Institution

The University of Alaska System has announced the appointment of Luke Fulp as the Chief Financial Officer. Fulp has extensive financial management and leadership experience in academic settings. For more than a decade he has served as the Deputy Superintendent of Business and Operations for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District. Previously he served as Director of Finance for the Kodiak School District and Purchasing & Accounts Payable Supervisor at the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Fulp holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Alaska Southeast. He’s a certified Administrator of School Finances and Operations through the Association of School Business Officials International, and a certified public accountant (CPA) candidate. Read more here.

Dr. Ross Maciejewski, Professor of Computer Science at Arizona State University, has been appointed Director of the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence following a competitive national search. Dr. Maciejewski also serves as Director of the Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency – a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence. His primary research interests are in the areas of geographical visualization and visual analytics focusing on homeland security, public health, dietary analysis, social media, criminal incident reports, and the food-energy-water nexus. Dr. Maciejewski is a recipient of an NSF CAREER Award (2014) and was recently named a Fulton Faculty Exemplar and Global Security Fellow at Arizona State. Dr. Maciejewski received his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Purdue University.

California State University, East Bay has announced the appointment of Kathleen Wong(Lau), Ph.D., as the incoming University Diversity Officer. She will join Cal State East Bay on January 17, 2023. Dr. Wong(Lau) currently serves as the Chief Diversity Officer at San Jose State University, a Cabinet-level position she has held for the last six-and-a-half years. Prior to that, she served as the Executive Director of the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE). She was concurrently the Director of the Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies at the University of Oklahoma, where she taught the doctoral seminar on Diversity in Higher Education. She earned her B.A. in Speech Communication from California State University, Hayward (now Cal State East Bay), and her Ph.D. in Intercultural Communication from Arizona State University. Read more here.

Dr. Brent Thomas has been appointed as the new Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs of Emporia State University. Dr. Thomas has ascended the ranks at Emporia State having first joined the University in 2006 when he was hired as an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. In 2014, he was appointed as the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and since September 2022 has been serving as the Interim Provost. Dr. Thomas began his career at Emporia State in 2006 after earning his Ph.D. in biological sciences from Mississippi State University and serving on faculty at University of South Carolina Upstate.  Read more here.

The Board of Trustees at Waubonsee Community College has unanimously selected Dr. Brian Knetl to be their next president. He will be joining Waubonsee Community College in the coming weeks. Dr. Knetl currently serves as Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs at Grand Rapids Community College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Prior to Grand Rapids, he was Associate Provost of Academic Affairs and Dean of Liberal Arts at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. Dr. Knetl earned a doctorate in Education from Loyola University, Chicago, master’s degree from Texas State University, and bachelor’s degree from Saint Mary’s University. He was a 2018-2019 Aspen Presidential Fellow for Community College Leadership. Read more here.

Eastern Kentucky University has announced the appointment of Dr. Michael (Sean) June as the new Director of the Manufacturing Engineering Program. Dr. June will begin as soon as Monday, December 12, 2022. Dr. June is currently an Associate Professor of Engineering, and the Director of the Gadomski Center for Engineering Innovation at Christian Brothers University, and has been a faculty fellow in the Marshall Space Flight Center for NASA. Dr. June holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in Thermal Sciences from North Carolina State University. 

The Board of Regents has selected outgoing New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas as Northern New Mexico College’s next president. Mr. Balderas served two terms as Attorney General of New Mexico, and previously served as a State Auditor, Special Prosecutor, and State Representative (District 68) in the New Mexico State Legislature.

The Missouri Valley College Board of Trustees has announced the appointment of Dr. Joseph Parisi as the 14th President of MVC. Dr. Parisi will begin his transition duties as President Elect beginning in January 2023 and will assume the office of the presidency following the retirement of Dr. Bonnie Humphrey on June 30, 2023. Dr. Parisi is an MVC alum who currently serves as the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Athletics at Central Methodist University.  Prior to his tenure at Central Methodist, Dr. Parisi served in various admissions and enrollment management capacities, including Vice President for Enrollment Management at Lindenwood University. He holds an Ed.D. in Instructional Leadership and an MS in Business Administration, Nonprofit Administration from Lindenwood University, and a BS in Nonprofit Administration from Missouri Valley College. Read more here.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has appointed Ms. Kelly Dowling as Senior Vice President for Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement beginning January 17, 2023. Previously, Dowling served at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook as assistant vice president for advancement.

The California State University Board of Trustees has appointed Cynthia Teniente-Matson to serve as the next president of San José State University, effective January 16th, 2023. Dr. Teniente-Matson is currently serving as the President of Texas A&M - San Antonio. Her appointment as president of SJSU marks a return to the CSU for Teniente-Matson who previously served as vice president for administration and chief financial officer for California State University, Fresno from 2004 to 2015. Dr. Teniente-Matson earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, an MBA from the University of Alaska Anchorage and is a product of the CSU having earned a doctorate in educational leadership from Fresno State. Read more here.