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Trustees approve four administrative appointments

Feb. 27, 2009

KALAMAZOO--During their Feb. 4 board meeting, Western Michigan University trustees approved four administrative appointments.

Dr. Nicholas Andreadis has been named acting dean of the Lee Honors College, effective Jan. 5, 2009-June 30, 2009; Dr. Leigh Arden Ford has been named director of the School of Communication, effective July 1, 2009; and Diana Hernandez has been named director of the Division of Multicultural Affairs, effective Dec. 8, 2008.

Trustees also approved the previously announced appointment of Craig Kaml as interim associate provost of Extended University Programs, effective Jan. 12, 2009.

Nicholas Andreadis, assistant professor of counselor education and counseling psychology, had been serving as interim associate dean of the Lee Honors College since 2007. At the time of his new appointment, he also was coordinating the master's program in human resource development as well as teaching for the doctoral program in interdisciplinary evaluation and for the doctoral program in interdisciplinary health studies.

A faculty member since 1999, Andreadis led the University's regional education efforts from 2005 to 2006 as dean of Extended University Programs. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and American College of Physicians and earned a bachelor's degree from Kent State University in 1969 and a medical degree from Creighton University School of Medicine in 1974.

Andreadis was a senior consultant at TSI Consulting Partners from 1998 to 1999 and worked at Pharmacia and its merger partner, the Upjohn Co., from 1984 to 1997. During his final five years with the firm, he served in a series of executive-level positions aimed at developing globally effective leaders and managing organizational change. His titles included vice president of the Corporate Quality Center, vice president for leadership development and administrative services, and vice president for global leadership development.

Leigh Ford, professor of communication, had been serving as director of graduate studies in the communication school since 2002. She is an expert in health communication and organizational communication who originally was a WMU faculty member from 1989 to 1993. She returned to the University in 1999 after serving for six years as an assistant professor of communication studies at New Mexico State University.

The author or co-author of numerous journal articles and conference papers, Ford has served as a grant reviewer for a National Cancer Institute research initiative and on editorial boards for publications such as Communication Research Reports, Communication Studies and Health Communication. At WMU, she has served as chair of the Graduate Studies Council and been active in the Faculty Senate as well as in numerous Universitywide and departmental committees.

Ford began her professional career in 1972 as a teacher of the hearing impaired, working briefly for the Kalamazoo Public Schools, then spending the next 11 years at schools in California. She earned a bachelor's degree in deaf education from Eastern Michigan University in 1971, a master's degree in communication from WMU in 1985 and a doctoral degree in organizational communication from Purdue University in 1993.

Diana Hernandez has been serving as interim director of the multicultural division since 2008. She came to WMU and the division in 1985, when she was hired as an assistant to the person who held the position to which she has now been promoted. Hernandez also served the division as senior associate director from 1999 to 2008, director of the King/Chavez/Parks College Day Program from 1989 to 1999 and special projects assistant from 1987 to 1989.

Hernandez earned two degrees from WMU, a master's degree in family life education in 2005 and a bachelor's degree in communication in 1985. She has been active on campus throughout her employment, founding or advising several registered student organizations for diverse students and serving on numerous Universitywide and divisional committees.

Also active in the local community, Hernandez has served on the boards of such organizations as the YWCA and Hispanic American Council, of which she is a past president, and been a member of Advocates for Latino Student Advancement in Michigan Education and of several regional Hispanic groups. In addition, Hernandez has served on committees for the Kalamazoo Public Schools and Glowing Embers Girl Scout Council, volunteered with Kalamazoo Adult and Community Education, and been a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Media contact: Jeanne Baron, (269) 387-8400, jeanne.baron@wmich.edu

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