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Commission members – Biographies
Orlando
L. Taylor is vice provost for research and dean of the graduate
school at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He will chair the
22-member University of Massachusetts Commission on Campus Diversity.
Rosio Alvarez is deputy chief information officer and executive director for information technologies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She worked with the deputy chancellor and chancellor from 1992 to 1998 as an assistant on a number of organizational and technical university-wide projects. In her academic work, Alvarez has published a number of articles and chapters that examine the socio-cultural aspects of information systems by studying discourse used during large-scale technology implementations. Alvarez sits on the national advisory boards for Hewlett Packard and Paetec and is a member of EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. Alvarez has also been involved in a number of social and political organizations that focus on improving the status of minority women and girls nationally and internationally. She has served on the board of several women’s foundations over the last 15 years and was a member of Kitchen Table Press, the only women of color press in the United States when it was founded in the early 1980s. Alvarez has held faculty appointments at the University of Washington Tacoma and the University of Massachusetts Boston, and currently holds a visiting faculty appointment at Mount Holyoke College where she teaches about the Internet and issues of race, class, gender and sexuality. Alvarez earned a doctorate in management in 1999, a master’s in business administration in 1994 and a bachelor’s in industrial engineering in 1990 from UMass Amherst.
Eduardo Bustamante is president of the Student Government Associaton at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, elected in the spring of 2004. He is a junior exercise science major. Bustamante is from Amherst, Mass.
Joyce A. Bylander has been associate provost for campus academic life at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., since January 2004. She served as dean of students from July 2000 to July 2004 and associate dean of educational services from 1998 to 2000. At Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., Bylander was associate dean of students from 1996 to 1998 and associate dean of students and director of multicultural affairs from 1995 to 1997. She was director of student intercultural programs at the College of Charleston, in Charleston, S.C., from 1992 to 1995; director of international exchange programs from 1989 to 1992; and special assistant to the dean from September 1988 to March 1989. Bylander earned a master’s degree in public administration from the College of Charleston in 1988; and a bachelor’s degree in psychology and social services from Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, in 1974.
Jules Chametzky is professor emeritus of English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is the founder and former editor of The Massachusetts Review and co-editor of “Black and White in American Culture: Ten Years of the Massachusetts Review.” Chametzky is also co-author of “Jewish American Literature: A Norton Anthology.” He earned his bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College in 1950; and a master’s and doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1952 and 1958, respectively. Chametzky taught at Minnesota and Boston University before coming to UMass in 1958, and has been a visiting and Fulbright Professor at six European universities and Yale University. He received the Chancellor's Medal in 1990 and the MELUS Award for Lifetime Contributions to multi-ethnic studies in 1992.
Martha C. Escobar has been assistant director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Massachusetts Amherst since February 2004. She serves as a member of the Community Scholarship Committee at the university. In addition, since August 2004 Escobar has been a member of the New England Association for College Admissions Counseling Diversity Awareness Committee. Escobar came to UMass Amherst as a first-year student from San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1998. While attending the university she held various on-campus positions. From 2000 to 2003, she served as the senior student assistant for the Enrollment Services Outreach Program and from 1998 to 2000 she was an assistant to the financial aid and outreach components coordinator at the Bilingual Collegiate Program. Escobar also held volunteer positions including tutoring high school students in the Springfield Public School System, peer mentor for high school and first-year students, assistant coordinator of the independent study class “Early College Awareness,” and host for overnight programs at the university. Escobar earned her bachelor’s degree from UMass Amherst in 2003.
Ruth Ellen Fitch is president and chief executive officer of the Dimock Community Health Center, a health and community services agency serving the Greater Roxbury and Dorchester sections of Boston. Prior to taking the helm of the 500-employee agency in August 2004, Fitch was a partner at Palmer & Dodge LLP, a general practice law firm in Boston. During her 21 years with the firm’s municipal law department, she was involved with a variety of complex and sensitive legal, organizational and financing transactions. Fitch received her bachelor of arts degree in economics from Barnard College and went on to earn her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. From 1974-80, Fitch was director of the Metropolitan Council for Education Opportunity (METCO) and Multicultural Programs in Brookline, Mass. In that role, she oversaw the operation of a state-funded voluntary education and integration program for 400 African-American students from Boston who attended the Brookline schools in grades K-12. Her duties included developing programs and support systems enabling METCO students to achieve their full academic potential. Fitch has held leadership positions with public and community-based institutions, including director and executive committee member of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau; trustee and vice chairwoman, Roxbury Community College board of trustees; chairwoman, board of directors, Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries Inc.; board of trustees of Women's Educational and Industrial Union; board of trustees of Grimes King Foundation; and member of the Boston Bar Association and Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association. At the University of Massachusetts Boston, she has taught a highly regarded black literature course to undergraduate students.
Anne J. Herrington is a professor and chair of the department of English at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has chaired the department since 2000 and was acting chair in 1997. She was director of the writing program from 1990 to 1996 and has been a professor since 1993. Herrington joined the university in 1986. She was a visiting faculty member at Northeastern University’s Institute on Writing and Teaching on Martha’s Vineyard in the summer of 1989 and was an assistant professor of English at Pennsylvania State University in University Park from 1983 to 86. Herrington was a visiting faculty member at the Bard College Freshman Summer Workshop on Language and Thinking at Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., in August 1981 and 1982; was acting dean of students from 1976 to 1977 and director of development skills at Johnson State College, in Johnson, Vt., from 1973 to 1982; and was a research assistant in the Writing in Non-Academic Settings Project at the State University of New York from 1980 to 1981. Herrington earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Susquehanna University in 1970; a master’s degree in English from the University of Vermont in 1974; conducted doctoral studies in English at the State University of New York at Albany in 1980-81; and earned a doctorate in communication and rhetoric from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1983.
Frances Degen Horowitz, a nationally recognized educational leader and renowned developmental psychologist, is president of The Graduate Center of The City University of New York. Horowitz came to The Graduate Center in September 1991 from the University of Kansas, Lawrence, where she was vice chancellor for research, graduate studies, and public service, and dean of the graduate school. She held that position for 13 years as part of her 30-year tenure with the university, where she played a significant role in helping create bridges between the university and major regional economic development efforts. Highlights from a lifelong list of awards include the New York Women’s Agenda Star Award (2002), American Psychological Association’s Centennial Award for Sustained Contribution to the Science Directorate (1992), the Antioch College Rebecca Rice Alumni Award for Lifetime Achievement (1996), and a special Commendation from the New York City Comptroller’s Office (1997). She was selected for inclusion in the Encyclopedia of Jewish Women and was elected a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences. Horowitz is acclaimed for her research, particularly in infant behavior and development. She is a Fellow of the Division of Developmental Psychology of the American Psychological Association. She is the author of more than 120 articles, chapters, monographs, and books on the subjects of infant development, early childhood development, high-risk infants, the gifted, and theories of development. She has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Horowitz attended Antioch College, graduating in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. She earned a master’s degree in elementary education from Goucher College, and in 1959 a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from the University of Iowa.
James Arthur Jemison is senior project manager in the economic planning and development division of the Massachusetts Port Authority. Previously, he served as special assistant for planning and economic development in the office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development in the District of Columbia since 2003. He was project manager for the Office of Planning in Washington, D.C., from 2000 to 2003. From 1998 to 2000, Jemison served as regional manager for the Roxbury neighborhood for the Boston Redevelopment Authority. He served as redevelopment manager, asset management analyst, and financial analyst for the Boston Housing Authority from 1995 to 1998. Jemison was a staff consultant with Arthur Andersen LLP, Real Estate Advisory Services in Miami, Fla., from 1994 to 1995. Jemison earned a master of city planning, housing and community development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994, and received a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship in Public Policy and International Affairs. He earned a bachelor’s degree in social thought and political economy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1992.
Howard C. Johnson has been provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of North Texas since 2003. He supervises the 10 schools and colleges of the university, as well as other supporting units including continuing education, summer sessions, the library, admissions and financial aid, and academic computing. In 2002-2003, Johnson served as executive vice provost for academic affairs at Syracuse University, and from 1995 to 2001 as dean of the Graduate School at Syracuse. was member of the faculty and served in various administrative positions at Syracuse beginning in 1973. He also was professor of mathematics at the City College of Chicago from 1968 to 1973 and a mathematics teacher in Chicago from 1966 to 1968. At both the University of North Texas and Syracuse, Johnson played a key role in creating and operating strategic academic plans and hiring top administrators. Johnson earned his doctorate in mathematics education from Northwestern University; a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Illinois, and a master’s degree in mathematics from Chicago State University; and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Chicago State University. He has served in a number of professional organization leadership positions, including president of the Association of Graduate Schools; chair of the Educational Testing Services GRE Committee on Minority Graduate Education; and board member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. He is also the co-author of many mathematics textbooks used in elementary and middle schools.
Earl Lewis has been the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Emory University since July 2004. Beginning in 1998, he was vice provost for academic affairs–graduate studies, and dean of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies at the University of Michigan and was interim dean from September 1997 to February 1998. He also served as a professor in the department of history and Center for Afro-American Studies (CAAS) at the University of Michigan beginning in 1995. Lewis was CAAS director from July 1991 to June 1993, and was interim director from July 1990 to June 1991. He served as associate professor in the department of history and CAAS at the University of Michigan from 1989-1995 and was assistant professor in the Afro-American studies department at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1985 to 1989. Lewis earned his bachelor’s degree in history and psychology from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., in 1978, and a master’s degree in American history in 1981 and a doctorate in Afro-American history in 1984 from the University of Minnesota.
Pamela R. Marsh-Williams is associate dean for the Undergraduate Advising and Academic Support Center (UAASC) and director of Pre-Major Advising Services (PAS) at the University Massachusetts Amherst. She was formerly the coordinator of Upper Division Advising Services for the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota. Marsh-Williams also has been an administrator at Mercer University of Georgia, Ohio State University, the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Minneapolis College of Arts & Design. The UAASC collaborates with the faculty and deans of the university’s undergraduate schools and colleges and works closely with other academic and student affairs units to provide a comprehensive academic advising unit. Marsh-Williams manages budgetary allocations and oversees personnel. She also provides leadership to staff and faculty with responsibility for academic support to enhance undergraduate development, retention and graduation. Marsh-Williams is involved in regional and national activities for the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) and is a member of the faculty for the Advising Administrator’s Institute. She is also a member of the American Association of Higher Education. She earned her doctorate from the University of Minnesota in educational psychology, a master’s degree in guidance and counseling, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Ohio State University.
Ernest May is currently professor of music and has served as secretary of the Faculty Senate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst since 2000. He also serves as chair of the Intercampus Faculty Council, which represents the five campus senates to the University of Massachusetts system administration. Prior assignments include chair, department of music and dance from 1988 to 2000; faculty delegate to the Board of Trustees from 1989 to 1997; presiding officer of the Faculty Senate; and member of search committees for system president and campus chancellor. From 1995 to 2001, May was a member of the Commission on Accreditation of the National Association of Schools of Music and also a member of or chaired accreditation visits to the universities of Washington, Utah, Indiana, Wisconsin-Whitewater, Rhode Island, and others. From 1996 to 1999 he was the principal investigator on a grant titled “Connecting Through Music,” which brought university musical ensembles into the Springfield, Mass. public schools. An organist and scholar of the music of J. S. Bach, he is concerned with new music and is currently teaching a course on “Postmodern American Music.” His previous teaching was at Amherst College. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and a master of fine arts and doctorate from Princeton University.
Mathew L. Ouellett has been the associate director of the Center for Teaching at the University of Massachusetts Amherst since 1997. He was assistant director of the center from 1994 to 97. Previously, he was area coordinator for the UMass Amherst department of housing services from 1988 to 93. He was area coordinator for the department of residential life at the University of Vermont from 1986 to 1988. He was a social worker and social services supervisor for the state of Vermont from 1984 to 86; a residence hall director at Emerson College in Boston from 1981 to 1983; head of residence at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., from 1980 to 1981; and a counselor for Upward Bound in Reno, Nev., in 1980. Ouellett earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Nevada in 1980; a master’s degree in adult development from Goddard College in Vermont in 1985; and a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1998.
Robert L. Ringel is professor of audiology and speech sciences and the Donald S. Powers Distinguished University Administrator on the Purdue University campus. As the executive vice president for academic affairs at Purdue from 1991 to 2001, Ringel was responsible for the development of all aspects of the university’s academic activities. His duties included matters of academic curriculum; the recruitment and development of faculty; the operation of such academic support systems as the library, computing center and student services, and a large number of research centers and institutes. As an executive officer of Purdue University’s statewide system, Ringel had responsibility for issues of academic concern on the university's four regional campuses and multiple extension sites. Ringel is a frequent lecturer, consultant and author on topics of contemporary importance in higher education. In recognition of contributions to the diversification of the faculty and student body at Purdue University, programs developed under Ringel’s administration have received a number of affirmative action awards. Ringel specializes in researching and teaching about disorders of voice, neurologically based failures of speech production, and the effects of aging on speech and voice performance. He is a certified speech pathologist and has been granted the honors and fellowship status by the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association. He earned his bachelor of arts degree from Brooklyn College in 1959, and received his master’s and Ph.D. from Purdue. Before joining the Purdue faculty in 1966, he was a faculty member at UCLA and the University of Wisconsin.
Vanessa M. Rivera is assistant dean for student affairs in the College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She also oversees the Women in Engineering and Minority Engineering programs and is responsible for student and academic matters of all undergraduate students in the college. As a public higher education administrator, Rivera has worked in the development of new programs and initiatives for the past 20 years. Her experience includes work at Mount Wachusett Community College, Holyoke Community College and UMass Amherst. A native of Puerto Rico, she served on Massachusetts Gov. William Weld’s Hispanic Affairs Commission for three years. She is a member of several professional organizations, including the National Association of Minority Engineering Program Administrators (NAMPA), the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science (GEM), and the Women in Engineering Programs & Advocates Network (WEPAN). She is a special executive board member for the GEM Consortium and chair of the Latino initiative for GEM. Rivera also serves on the WEPAN board.
Uri Strauss is president of the Graduate Student Senate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a doctoral candidate in the department of linguistics. Strauss has been involved with social justice organizing since his days as an undergraduate, including activism on educational access and anti-racism. An Israeli citizen and former settler in Palestine, he has been active for many years in the Palestine solidarity movement and in grassroots peace initiatives. He earned his master’s degree in linguistics from the University of British Columbia in 2000 and his bachelor’s degree in linguistics from York University, Toronto, in 1997.
Benjamin Swan is a six-term Democratic state lawmaker representing parts of the city of Springfield, Mass., comprising the 11th Hampden District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He is currently vice chairman of the Steering, Policy and Scheduling Committee, and a member of the House Ways and Means and State Administration committees. Swan lists as his legislative priorities public safety, youth development, economic and job development, health care and education. Swan earned a master’s degree in education from UMass Amherst
in 1977; a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the Fashion-Art
School, Springfield, Mass., in 1961; and has attended Howard University
and American International College. He is a member of the Springfield
and Ward 4 Democratic committees and is a member of the UMass Amherst
Alumni Association.
Carlos Vargas-Aburto is provost and vice president for academic affairs at Central State University in Ohio, a position he assumed in November 2003. He currently serves as a member of the National Science Foundation’s Advisory Committee for Business and Operations, and he is an external evaluator for the National Agency of Science and Technology in Argentina. Previously, he worked as associate dean for research at Kent State University and director of the program on electron beam technology. Vargas-Aburto joined the Kent State faculty in 1985, teaching courses in analog and digital electronics, and the use of microprocessors and microcomputers. He also was a member of the faculty at International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, from 1983 to 1988 and was on the faculty of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in 1971 and 1979 to 1988. He is familiar with the University of Massachusetts Amherst, having served as an American Council on Education fellow from July 1997 to June 1998. Vargas-Aburto attended negotiation meetings between administrators and graduate and undergraduate students resulting from a building takeover, and he also attended bargaining meetings between the administration and the Graduate Employee Organization. He was also an advisor to the chancellor and a key liaison between United States and Mexican management teams developing a $60 million radio-telescope in Mexico. Vargas-Arbuto earned his doctorate in physics and aerospace science in 1978, a master’s degrees in physics and in aerospace science in 1975 and 1974, respectively, from the University of Michigan. He received his bachelor’s degree in physics from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in 1971.
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