Five African Americans Taking on New Administrative Roles in Higher Education

Marsha C. Senior was appointed director of the Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program at Syracuse University in New York. She will also serve as assistant director of student administrative services at University College at Syracuse.

Senior first joined the staff at Syracuse University in 1986. Earlier, she worked as a counselor for the Upward Bound program at Le Moyne College in Syracuse. Senior holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Raymond K. Robinson was promoted to assistant director and academic advisor at the Westport campus of Webster University in St. Louis. He was a graduate admissions counselor at the university.

An ordained minister, Robinson is a graduate of Iowa State University, where he majored in speech communication and sociology. He holds a master of divinity degree from Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis.

Lisa McBride is the new vice president and chief diversity officer at Salem State University in Massachusetts. She was the chief diversity officer at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dr. McBride holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice from Indiana University in Bloomington and a Ph.D. in conflict analysis and resolution from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Shira Thomas was named acting general counsel at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. She joined the legal team at Florida A&M in 1999 as assistant general counsel. Earlier, she was an attorney for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Thomas is a 1994 graduate of the College of Law at Florida State University.

Sylvia Clark Anderson was promoted to chief human resources officer at North Carolina Central University in Durham. She had been serving as director of employee relations and equal employment opportunity at the university. Before joining the staff at North Carolina Central in 2014, Anderson was director of employee relations at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro.

Anderson is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she majored in business administration and economics. She holds a master’s degree in psychological counseling from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.

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