Hired
Laurel Bongiorno – Hartwick College (N.Y.)
Laurel Bongiorno, vice president for academic affairs and provost at Hartwick College, will become the private institution’s 13th president in July.
Since 2022, Bongiorno has launched eight new majors and six minors, restructured academic departments and implemented a data-informed strategy across academic affairs. She also served as the dean of two separate schools in her prior post at Champlain College in Vermont.
David Cook – Iowa State University
Iowa State University has appointed David Cook as its next president. He begins in March.
President of North Dakota State University since 2022, Cook has helped reverse declining enrollment, improve student success metrics and expand the land-grant university’s research funding and expenditures to historic levels, with a particular emphasis on agriculture technology and artificial intelligence.
Cook previously served as vice chancellor for public affairs and economic development at the University of Kansas.
David Dausey – Duquesne University (Penn.)
Duquesne University has selected David Dausey as its next leader. He will be only the fourth lay president in the Catholic university’s 147-year history. He begins next July.
Dausey currently serves as executive vice president and provost at Duquesne. Over the past seven years, he has helped create a new college of medicine, engineering programs and a general university curriculum.
The president-elect has also overseen research, enrollment management, online learning and classroom technology.
Penny Elkins – Mercer University (Ga.)
Mercer University has unanimously selected Penny Elkins as its next president, starting in January. She replaces William Underwood, who will conclude a nearly two-decade tenure.
Currently the executive vice president and interim provost, Elkins has over 25 years of experience as a tenured professor and senior administrator at Mercer. She helped produce an 80% increase in freshman enrollment and 47% growth in residential undergraduates over her 12 years as senior vice president for enrollment management.
Elkins will be the first-ever female president and first graduate to lead Mercer in over 45 years.
Terence Finley – Corning Community College (N.Y.)
Terence Finley, SUNY alumnus and HBCU leader, has been appointed the next president of Corning Community College in New York, where he begins on January 2.
Finley is the current vice president and chief operating officer at Harris-Stowe State University in Missouri, where he helped eliminate institutional debt and drive revenue through increased state funding and advancement initiatives.
He previously held leadership and executive roles at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, Intel and NVIDIA.
Jennifer Glowienka – Carroll College (Montana)
Carroll College has selected Jennifer Glowienka as its 20th president. Her appointment as the first permanent female president of Carroll College begins in July.
Glowienka has served as interim co-president of Carroll College alongside Bishop Vetter since July. She has served as a faculty member and campus leader since 2003, with past posts ranging from department chair, assistant dean and vice president for academic affairs.
Michael Spagna – Sonoma State University (Calif.)
Michael Spagna will become the president of Sonoma State University on January 20.
Currently the interim president of Cal Poly Humboldt, Spagna is a vetted leader with over three decades of experience across the California State University system. Previous positions include provost for academic affairs at CSU Dominguez Hills, dean of the education college at CSU Northridge and provost representative for the system’s Admission Advisory Council.
Spagna has also served as a consultant to the California State Department of Education and chair of the Institutions of Higher Education Collaborative for the L.A. Compact.
Susan Stuebner – Simpson College (Iowa)
Susan Stuebner has been elevated to the permanent role as president of Simpson College. The position follows a positive formal performance review from a leadership search team and stellar feedback from the campus community.
Stuebner, who stepped in as interim president after the sudden passing of Jay Byers in July, has accumulated a 30-year career in higher education. Her most recent positions include an eight-year tenure as president of Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire, chief operating officer at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania and several administrative roles at Lycoming College, also located in Pennsylvania.
Gregory Tomso – St. Cloud State University (Minn.)
Gregory Tomso has been selected as the next president of St. Cloud State University, where he beat out three other finalists. He will begin on January 5.
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Tomso recently served as the vice president of Academic Engagement and Student Affairs at the University of West Florida.
David Whitlock – Southeastern Oklahoma State University
David Whitlock finds himself back in the president’s seat following his promotion from interim leader at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
Whitlock has also served as the dean of Southeastern’s business school since 2023, helping create its first doctoral degree. His first stint as a university president took place from 2008 to 2019 at Oklahoma Baptist University.
Retiring
Nivine Megahed – National Louis University (Ill.)
Nivine Megahed will retire at the end of the academic year, concluding a 16-year tenure as president of National Louis University, according to a press release.
Her accomplishments include the creation of an undergraduate college to support first-year college students, a school of nursing and an academic workforce pathway track that streamlines student placement in full-time, living-wage employment opportunities.
Megahed also helped develop a three-year bachelor’s degree that allows working adults to earn credits through their full-time jobs.
Pat Pitney – University of Alaska
Pat Pitney announced her plans to retire as president of the University of Alaska in May. She will conclude a four-year tenure as the university’s leader and 30 years of public and public post-secondary education service.
Pitney has served in various roles across the University of Alaska System since 1991, primarily focused on administrative services, management and budget planning.
Upon becoming the first female president of the University of Alaska in 2022, Pitney has reversed declining enrollment and grown the overall student headcount for three consecutive years. She has also tackled college affordability and workforce development.
Wendy Raymond – Haverford College (Penn.)
Wendy Raymond announced that she will retire from Haverford College in June 2027 after more than three decades in higher education.
“I am ready to step away from academia,” she wrote in a public announcement.
In her six years as president, Raymond spearheaded several clean energy initiatives and helped form the college’s new leadership institute.
However, Raymond stoked the ire of GOP policymakers over the college’s handling of antisemitism during pro-Palestine protests earlier this year. Similarly, an email she sent in 2020 discouraging students from protesting the murder of Walter Wallace Jr. by law enforcement led to a two-week strike by students and faculty, WHYY reports.
Betty Reynard – Lamar State College Port Arthur (Texas)
Betty Reynard will retire as president of Lamar State College Port Arthur by Dec. 31, completing an 11-year tenure, KFDM reports.
Reynard oversaw the addition of a dozen new certificate and degree programs reflecting regional workforce demands and the construction of new buildings to support the college’s health and science programs.
Enrollment this fall at Lamar State eclipsed 5,000 students, a new record, due in part to Reynard’s focus on expanding dual enrollment with local K12 school districts.
Stepping down
Annette Funderburk – Ingram State Technical College (Ala.)
Annette Funderburk stepped down from her post as president of Ingram State Technical College, a two-year institution for incarcerated adults, WAKA reports.
Funderburk will become a special assistant to Jimmy Baker, chancellor of the Alabama Community College System.
“Annette has been an exceptional leader for Ingram State Technical College over the past seven years, strengthening its mission and expanding opportunities for students to gain the skills needed to change their lives,” Baker said.
Rupert Hayles – Roberts Wesleyan University (N.Y.)
Rupert Hayles, president of Roberts Wesleyan University, will step down on Jan. 2 after two years on the job, WHEC reports.
Hayles oversaw the university’s transition from a college to a university. In response to changing student demographics and demands, he was also tasked with cutting academic programs, reducing 20% of staff and jumpstarting new stackable certificate programs.
“The work of Dr. Hayles has been inspirational in its focus and forward thinking,” Terry Taber, chair of the board of trustees, said in a statement. “Sometimes education focuses on ‘how it has always been done,’ and he recognizes that the only constant moving forward is change.”
