Search Advisory Committee Named for Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy has appointed a search advisory committee to recommend candidates for the position of vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion. The committee will be chaired by William Brady, vice chancellor for human resources, and a list of recommended candidates is expected to be forwarded to the chancellor by Nov. 1.  

Members of the committee include: Rolanda C Burney, interim vice chancellor for student affairs and campus life; Nilanjana Dasgupta, professor, psychological and brain sciences; Ann Marie Russell, associate provost for data and analytics; Dora Ramos, athletic department clerk; Mariam Rashid, Graduate Student Senate representative; Cynthia Gerst-Pepin, dean, College of Education, Joya Misra, director of ADVANCE programming and professor of sociology; Nathaniel Whitmal, associate professor of communication disorders; John Hayes, institutional maintenance foreman; and Grace Baker, Student Government Association representative.

Nefertiti Walker, a faculty member in the Isenberg School of Management who also serves as its associate dean for an inclusive organization, has been named interim associate chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion. Her appointment follows the departure of Enobong “Anna” Branch, who is leaving UMass to become the vice chancellor for diversity, inclusion and community engagement at Rutgers University–New Brunswick.