Gwendolyn Boyd has begun her tenure as Alabama State University’s 14th (and first female) president, succeeding William H. Harris, interim president and president emeritus. Boyd was previously an engineer and executive assistant to the Applied Physics Laboratory chief of staff at Johns Hopkins University, where she had worked for the past 33 years.
An ASU alumna, Boyd has also led the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Johns Hopkins Diversity Leadership Council. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the Barry Goldwater Foundation for Excellence in Education.
Timothy D. Sands, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Purdue University (Ind.), has been named the 16th president at Virginia Tech, effective June 1. He will replace Charles Steger, who has led VT for 14 years.
Steger remained in the role after the 2007 campus massacre that claimed 32 lives, despite criticisms that campus officials did not alert its community quickly enough about a shooter on campus and a 2010 U.S. Department of Education report that concluded the university did not comply with Clery Act timely-warning requirements.
In early January, Florida A&M University’s Board of Trustees selected Elmira Mangum as its first female president. Currently vice president for budget and planning at Cornell, Mangum will replace Interim President Larry Robinson later this year.
Beverly J. Warren, provost and senior vice president of Virginia Commonwealth University, will be president of Kent State University (Ohio). She will start on July 1, succeeding retiring President Lester A. Lefton. —Lauren Williams
