John Blackshear, the current dean of students, associate vice president for student affairs, and associate vice provost for undergraduate education at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, will join the University of Rochester in New York as vice president for student life, effective January 1, 2024. Dr. Blackshear was previously dean of academic affairs for Duke’s Trinity College of Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Blackshear earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in community/ clinical psychology from Florida A&M University. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from Georgia State University.
Chris Allen is the new chief financial officer at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California. He previously served as interim CFO of Keck Medicine and CFO of the Keck Medical Center at the university. Previously, Allen served as CFO for Adventist Health Glendale Medical Center and as interim CFO for the University of California Irvine Medical Center.
Allen holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance from the University of Georgia.
Steven White will be the next vice president for development at Wilberforce University in Ohio, effective October 9. He was the central and southern Ohio director of development for the United Negro College Fund. Prior to joining UNCF, he was a director of corporate relations for the Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council.
Miller earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational management from Wilberforce University.
Bettina Mozie has been named executive director of the Center for Online and Distance Education at South Carolina State University. Mozie joined the staff at the university in 2018 as an academic specialist and later served as the training coordinator and eLearning instructional designer for the Center for Online and Distance Education.
Mozie earned a master’s degree in teaching online and distance education from Ashford University.
Michael Harper has been appointed director of career services and preprofessional programs at Alcorn State University in Mississippi. Earlier, he was senior manager of domestic ground operations for FedEx.
Harper earned bachelor’s degrees from Alcorn State and American InterContinental University.
Thelma Ford Sojourner is the inaugural community relations liaison at Voorhees University in Denmark, South Carolina. She is the former superintendent of the Denmark-Olar School District in South Carolina. She retired from that post in 2021.
Dr. Sojourner is a graduate of Voorhees University and holds a doctorate from South Carolina State University.
