Hired
Ayanna Howard – Spelman College (Ga.)
Howard, a renowned roboticist, entrepreneur and higher education leader, will become Spelman College’s 12th president on Aug. 1. Howard is dean of Ohio State’s College of Engineering and is a nationally recognized expert in robotics and human-centered technology.
She has also worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Howard is the co-founder of Zyrobotics, which develops educational and therapeutic technologies for children with special needs, and co-founder of Black in Robotics, an organization working to expand representation within the robotics profession.
Spelman has been ranked the nation’s No. 1 HBCU by U.S. News & World Report for 19 consecutive years and is a leading producer of Black women who earn doctoral degrees in STEM fields.
James Cousins – Wilkes University (Pa.)
Cousins, who becomes Wilkes’ eighth president on Aug. 1, has led Kentucky Wesleyan College since 2024. Under Cousins’s leadership, Kentucky Wesleyan launched its first graduate program, established strategic community partnerships and strengthened its financial position.
Cousins previously served as Kentucky Wesleyan’s provost and vice president of academic affairs and associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Western Michigan University.
John F. Dolan – Elmira College (N.Y.)
Dolan, who takes the helm at Elmira on July 30, is head of school at St. Mary’s Lynn, a private school in Massachusetts. Dolan is credited with doubling the school’s enrollment and building a multi-million-dollar endowment.
Dolan formerly served as senior vice president of enrollment management and athletics at Simmons University, where he oversaw record enrollment and increased student diversity. Dolan has also worked at Le Moyne College, La Salle University, Drexel University, and the University of Denver.
Enrollment and fundraising have grown at Elmira in recent years, the college said.
Meghan Barnard – Jessup University (Calif.)
Barnard will become the university’s first female president on July 1. She most recently served as provost and senior vice president at Florida’s Southeastern University, where she streamlined degree pathways and launched high-demand programs in fields such as counseling, hospitality and medical sciences.
She has also formed strategic partnerships with ministries, churches, educational organizations and global nonprofits to extend the reach of Christian higher education.
Greg Tanner – South Georgia State College
Tanner, who has been the college’s interim president since 2023, is credited with growing enrollment and spearheading the college’s first major fundraising campaign. Tanner has been with the institution since 2012 and was previously a K12 principal.
Erin Stresow – Leech Lake Tribal College (Minn.)
Stresow has two decades of leadership experience as a higher education executive and organizational strategist with tribal government, nonprofits and business. She most recently served as executive director of equitable student success at the Community College of Aurora and senior director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Colorado State University Pueblo.
In these higher ed roles, she has led institution-wide initiatives to integrate academic affairs, student services and workforce development to create equity-centered strategic plans to improve enrollment, retention and completion outcomes.
Retiring
Walter V. Wendler – West Texas A&M University
Wendler will retire on Sep. 1, marking 10 years as the university’s president. During his tenure, West Texas A&M launched associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs and mounted the One West fundraising campaign to support faculty and students.
The school also maintained stable enrollment and complete major construction projects.
Robert Wilmouth – Rocky Mountain College (Mont.)
Wilmouth has been president since 2013 and previously directed the college’s master of physician assistant studies program. Under his presidency, Rocky Mountain College launched the first Montana-based doctorate of occupational therapy program and opened a new science building.
Stepping down
La Jerne Terry Cornish – Ithaca College (N.Y.)
Cornish, who has served as president since 2022, will complete her term on June 30, 2027. She joined Ithaca College as provost in 2018 after serving as an associate provost at Goucher College.
The school’s board of trustees said Cornish “steadied the college following the pandemic, brought our community together, and strengthened the bonds that define Ithaca.”
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