Four African Americans Who Have Been Appointed to Administrative Posts in Higher Education

Jarmon DeSadier, senior director of employee relations for human resources at the Georgia Institute of Technology, was promoted to interim vice president for the Office of Equal Opportunity, Compliance, and Conflict Management. He is the former Title IX coordinator at Georgia Gwinnett College.

DeSadier is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where he majored in marketing. He earned a juris doctorate at Florida Coastal School of Law.

Robert Mitchell Jr. was appointed assistant provost of enrollment services at Dillard University in New Orleans. He will also serve as director of the newly-created Office of Academic, Financial, and Wealth Management. For the past decade, he has served asuniversity registrar and director of records and registration at Dillard.

Mitchell is a graduate of Alabama State University, where he majored in management. He earned an MBA at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut.

Jessica Smith was named chief operating officer for the Relay Graduate School of Education, which is based in New York but has offices throughout the United States. Smith was vice president of employee relations and engagement at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools.

Smith is a graduate of the University of Miami, where she majored in history and English. She earned a juris doctorate at Emory University in Atlanta.

John Thomas was appointed chief of police at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has served as inteim chief since December. Prior to coming to UCLA, he served as special advisor to the senior vice president for administration at the University of Southern California. He was the executive director of the department of public safety and chief of police at the University of Southern California from 2013 to 2022.

Thomas holds a bachelor’s degree from Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He also earned a master’s degree in executive leadership from the University of Southern California.

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