Dr. Adriel A. HiltonAdriel A. Hilton has been named Vice President of Institutional Strategy and Chief of Staff at Columbia College Chicago. Most recently, he served with Washington State’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families and previously led strategic student affairs and enrollment initiatives at Southern University at New Orleans.
Hilton holds a BA in Business Administration (Finance) from Morehouse College, a Master of Applied Social Science in Public Administration from Florida A&M University, an MBA from Webster University, and a PhD in Higher Education Administration from Morgan State University.
Dr. Ty HawkinsTy Hawkins has been named associate dean for academic programs at Oklahoma State University. He most recently held the position of director for the University of Central Arkansas’ School of Language and Literature.
In his new role, Hawkins will be responsible for overseeing curriculum development, program assessment and accreditation processes for OSU’s largest academic college.
A native of Missouri, Hawkins earned degrees in English and Spanish from Saint Louis University and Westminster College. He is a scholar of American literature who specializes in 20th- and 21st-century texts.
Anne M. Cizmar has been named associate dean of research administration at Eastern Kentucky University. This newly created role will support EKU’s strategic research initiative, aimed at building a holistic and scalable infrastructure to support the growth of sponsored research for faculty, staff and students across the university. Cizmar will oversee pre-award management, post-award administration and grant compliance. She will play a key role in enhancing EKU’s research environment through collaboration, transparency and innovation across all academic and administrative divisions.
Cizmar earned a Ph.D. in government and politics from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she specialized in American politics and quantitative research methods. She joined the Department of Government at EKU in 2011 and was promoted to professor of political science in 2022. She served as the Master of Public Administration program coordinator from 2020 to 2023. She serves as an active member of the university community through various committee roles, including vice chair of the Essential Education Transformation Committee.
Dr. Philip Cavalier Philip Cavalierhas been named president of Kutztown University. Cavalier most recently served as provost and senior vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Tennessee at Martin (UTM), a regional public university with more than 7,000 students in northwest Tennessee. He served as interim chancellor for five months in 2023. During his seven years at the university, he led the creation of UTM’s 2025- 30 strategic plan, and two strategic enrollment plans and developed or enhanced eight academic programs aligned with student interests and local workforce needs. Before joining UT Martin, Cavalier held several faculty and senior leadership roles in higher education, including provost at Lyon College, provost and dean of the college at Eureka College, and dean of general education at Catawba College.
Cavalier holds a doctorate in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo, a master’s degree in English from Northeastern University, Boston, Mass., and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Swarthmore College.
Dr. Brendan L. JohnsonBrendan L. Johnson has been appointed as the new Director of Bands at Benedict College, where he will lead all ensembles, including the nationally recognized Benedict College Band of Distinction (BCBOD). Johnson brings a decade of transformative leadership from Darlington High School, where he served as Director of Bands. During his tenure, he grew the program from 75 to 225 members, making it one of the largest high school bands in South Carolina. He was selected for the Benedict role following an extensive nationwide search for elite musicians and conductors.
A dual graduate of Bethune-Cookman University, Johnson holds bachelor’s degrees in music education and liberal studies. While at Bethune-Cookman, he made history a the third Mr. Bethune-Cookman University. He later earned a master’s in education from Anderson University, and a Doctorate from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Dr. Sonia De La Torre Sonia De La Torre has been named Vice President of Student Services at Fullerton College.
De La Torre most recently served as Dean of Student Equity at Long Beach City College. She previously served as the Associate Dean of Student Support Services and Director of Student Success and Support Services at Long Beach City College. Prior to her tenure in the California Community College system, she held leadership roles in student affairs at Scripps College and in academic support within the University of California system.
De La Torre holds a Bachelors of Arts degree from University of California, Davis, a Master of Science degree in Educational Counseling and Guidance from California State University, San Bernardino and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from California State University, Long Beach.
Dr. Lorin Basden ArnoldLorin Basden Arnold has been promoted to senior vice president for Academic Affairs at Kutztown University. Basden Arnold has served as chief academic officer and second-in-command for the institution since June 2021.
In the last four years, Basden Arnold has led the university’s vision of its academic offerings, including the addition of new concentrations and certificates as well as new non-credit learning opportunities. In addition, she plays a pivotal role in the university’s Middle States review process.
In 2023, Basden Arnold helped the university acquire a multi-million-dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education to increase undergraduate retention and graduation rates and eliminate equity gaps for KU students. Under her guidance, the university launched a new student support platform (Starfish), began assigning a student success navigator for each incoming student, engaged in the transition to a new student information system (Banner) and broadened non-credit learning opportunities through KU Advance.
Basden Arnold came to KU in June 2021 from SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, N.Y., where she served three years as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs; and five years as professor of Communication. She provided leadership and direction for six academic divisions, serving nearly 7,000 students. Before SUNY New Paltz, Basden Arnold spent seven years as dean of the College of Communication and Creative Arts at Rowan University, Glassboro, N.J. She provided leadership for six academic departments and nearly 250 faculty and staff, serving more than 1,700 students enrolled in both undergraduate and graduate degree programs at an institution of 16,000 students. She oversaw a $11 million budget and established the Rowan Writing Center.
A three-time graduate of Purdue University, Basden Arnold earned her doctorate in interpersonal communication in 1996, her master’s degree in public affairs/issue management in 1991 and her bachelor’s degree in communication/public relations in 1988.
Dr. Christy Chancy BridgesChristy Chancy Bridges has been appointed associate dean of graduate programs at Mercer University School of Medicine.
Bridges, a professor of histology, also served as director of MUSM’s Ph.D. in biomedical sciences program and had been serving as interim chair of the biomedical sciences department since 2022. She served as director of the Master of Science in preclinical sciences program from 2018-25. She joined the MUSM faculty in 2006.
Bridges earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Berry College and her Ph.D. in cellular biology from the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. She completed postdoctoral training at the Medical College of Georgia in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and at MUSM in the Department of Biomedical Sciences.
Dr. William InbodenWilliam Inboden, an expert on national security and foreign policy scholar, has been appointed executive vice president and provost at The University of Texas at Austin, effective Aug. 1. He will also hold the William Powers Jr. Chair and a joint faculty appointment with the Department of History and the School of Civic Leadership.
Inboden has held several academic leadership roles at UT Austin and the UT System from 2010 to 2023. These include serving as founder and executive director of the Clements Center for National Security, founding editor-in-chief of the Texas National Security Review, and co-director of The University of Texas System National Security Network.
In addition, Inboden served as a faculty member in the LBJ School of Public Affairs and was a Distinguished Scholar at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law.
Currently the director of the Alexander Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida, Inboden is also a Peterson Senior Fellow with the Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He received Ph.D., M.Phil and M.A. degrees in history from Yale University and an A.B. in history from Stanford University.
Deborah F. RutterDeborah F. Rutter, the former president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., has been appointed vice provost for the arts at Duke University.
From 2014 to 2025, Rutter was the first woman to serve as president of the Kennedy Center, the nation’s cultural center and living memorial to President Kennedy. Under Rutter’s leadership, the center experienced a period of transformative programmatic growth; opened the REACH, a physical expansion of the campus; and strengthened its financial position through increases in its endowment and working capital reserves.
Rutter is a graduate of Stanford University, where she majored in music and German, and earned an MBA from the University of Southern California. Trained in piano and violin, she previously served as president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association and executive director of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. She also held executive leadership roles with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Rutter received an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Duke in 2023.
