Executive Leadership
at Mary Baldwin University
About President Stein

A values-driven and inclusive leader, Stein has more than 30 years of higher education experience across academic, student engagement, and administrative areas of university life. Before being named president at MBU, he spent 21 years at Elon University in North Carolina, where he led the development and implementation of the 10-year strategic plan Boldly Elon.

He also oversaw Elon’s student professional development center, leadership and professional development, professional and continuing studies, and cultural and special programs. He led the creation of regional centers in major U.S. cities to provide students and alumni with immersive professional experiences, networking opportunities, and coursework, and also co-led an initiative to develop a groundbreaking student mentoring model.

During his time as a student affairs dean at Elon from 2002 to 2010, Stein spearheaded a campus-wide initiative to design a $150 million residential plan focused on integrating living and learning across the campus. Stein joined Elon’s senior staff in 2010, serving as chief of staff and secretary to the board of trustees for two Elon presidents.

Throughout his career, Stein has been a strong advocate and supporter of diversity, equity, and inclusion. His doctoral dissertation focused on presidential roles in shaping campus culture and climate to ensure access and success for the broadest range of students. Similarly, his work on Elon’s strategic plan resulted in campus initiatives focused on increasing representational diversity; building support for diverse students, faculty, and staff; and enhancing intercultural competencies.

With skills in relationship-building, high-level communications, and fundraising, Stein also served as primary prospect manager for dozens of Elon supporters over the years, and collaborated to raise more than $4 million in endowment and annual gifts to support the growth of Jewish life and Jewish studies. He was frequently the university point person for local officials, business leaders, and non-profit partners.

Stein began his tenure at Elon in 2002 as assistant professor of English, teaching about writing, literature, and identity, utilizing multiple engaged learning pedagogies. Beyond the classroom, he has developed collaborative faculty-staff teams that have built nationally recognized engaged learning programs.

Stein earned a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Georgia, a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from Colorado State University, a master’s degree in English from the University of Northern Colorado, and a bachelor’s degree in English from Beloit College in Wisconsin. His publications include articles and book chapters on governing boards, the residential campus, inclusive campuses, multi-faith leadership, academic and student affairs partnerships, and service learning, as well as poems appearing in national literary magazines.

Stein’s parents were the first in their family to attend college, and his grandparents survived the Holocaust and Russian pogroms to make a new life in the United States. His wife, Chrissy Stein, is an English professor, and their children, Lena and Benny, are graduates of Carleton College and Wesleyan University, respectively.

Follow @‌presjeffstein on Instagram.

Dr. Todd Telemeco serves as vice president and dean of Mary Baldwin University’s Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences, and a professor of physical therapy.

Telemeco is a licensed physical therapist and holds two doctoral degrees — one in anatomy from Virginia Commonwealth University, another in physical therapy from Shenandoah University. He has more than 20 years of professional higher education experience as a professor and in leadership roles at various universities. Resumé highlights include serving as School of Health Sciences dean at Methodist University, founding dean for the University of North Carolina at Pembroke’s College of Health Sciences, and, most recently, Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of Mount Olive.

Telemeco brings an impressive record of academic leadership, clinical expertise, and partnership experience in strengthening outreach, community relations, and external affiliations within the healthcare industry. His leadership style emphasizes leveraging available resources and using creativity to solve problems to benefit students, academic programs, the university, and the communities it serves. In the past he has led key efforts around reaching rural and underserved populations, including Native American tribes.

On joining MBU, Telemeco stated: “I was inspired by Mary Baldwin’s heritage as an inclusive institution with an entrepreneurial spirit that develops leaders through an unwavering commitment to the pursuit of individual and collective successes of its students, faculty, and staff. Collectively these values align with who I am as a person, educator, clinician, and academic leader.

As MBU’s Chief Diversity Officer, Rev. Andrea Cornett-Scott will build upon her 25 years of experience in diversity strategies, inclusive programming, and student-centered mentorship at Mary Baldwin to provide strategic vision to develop and implement proactive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at MBU and most effectively foster a community of awareness, belonging, and respect.

Since she joined Mary Baldwin in 1996 as director of African American affairs, Cornett-Scott has impacted the lives of hundreds of students through her work as an advisor and her leadership in MBU’s Office of Inclusive Excellence.

Most recently serving as associate provost of inclusive excellence, she designed and directed both the Ida B. Wells Living-Learning Community — a leadership and civic engagement program for women of African descent — and the PERSIST Program, focusing on student success.

She also served as a co-leader of MBU’s Coalition for Racial and Social Justice, formed in 2020, and as a member of the Academic Leadership Council.

Over the course of her MBU career, she has been a vital resource for DEI expertise and best practices during strategic planning and designing initiatives to serve students.

Often in collaboration with students to bring their interests to life, she has launched and developed nearly 30 programs, celebrations, and organizations to bolster cross-cultural learning and inclusive excellence at the university.

Those programs — like the Ubuntu Student Mentoring Program and the Sista Friends Alumni Mentoring Program — were also consistently focused on supporting students’ academic, emotional, and social wellbeing through relationship-building.

Traditions created through the Office of Inclusive Excellence have become part of the MBU culture as a whole. The Kwanzaa celebration, held each February, is one of the largest events on campus, and the annual Ajani Ceremony — celebrating graduates who have been leaders of diversity programming and inclusive excellence — is a signature event during Commencement weekend. Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month also bring a slate of cultural events and engagement opportunities to MBU.

Behind each of these efforts, Cornett-Scott has promoted the value of a diverse intellectual and social environment for all students and has centered the voices of historically culturally marginalized students.

Also a member of the philosophy and religion department, Cornett-Scott taught the courses African American Religion and Community and Practice, both of which support the African American studies minor, as well as Faith, Life, and Service and Community Service.

In 2000, she planted Christ Our Redeemer AME Church in downtown Staunton, where she continues to serve as pastor. She has also served as the dean for the AME Virginia Annual Conference Board of Examiners for many years, and last year was named dean of the Second Episcopal District Board of Examiners.

Cornett-Scott attended Howard University and graduated from Morris Brown College, earning a bachelor of arts in Spanish. As an undergraduate, Cornett-Scott also studied abroad in the Dominican Republic at Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra. She earned her master of divinity from Payne Theological Seminary, writing her thesis — “Ain’t Got Time to Die: The African Spiritual Inheritance of the African Methodist Episcopal Church” — on African cultural continuities.

Brigadier General Terry Djuric is a retired United States Air Force brigadier general. Her last assignment was Deputy Director, Space and Intelligence Office, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Djuric was commissioned in 1983 through Officer Training School. She has operated space systems at three space wings and Headquarters 14th Air Force. In 2004, she deployed to Southwest Asia as Director of Space Forces for operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. She has commanded at the squadron, group and wing levels, and has served on staffs at the Air Force Personnel Center, U.S. Strategic Command and Headquarters U.S. Air Force. Prior to her current assignment, she was Commander, Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

Gen. Djuric is the commandant of cadets for the Virginia Women’s Institute for Leadership (VWIL) and senior advisor to the president at Mary Baldwin University.

Mary Cohill Harvey serves as interim vice president for university advancement, which houses alumni engagement, campaign fundraising, annual giving, stewardship, and advancement operations.  

She joined MBU in August 2021 as associate vice president and campaign director, and helped the university raise more than $73 million through the MBU Empowers campaign that concluded in June 2023. MBU Empowers shattered initial campaign goals, and stands as the second largest campaign in the university’s history.

Harvey has significant experience in campaign positioning, strategy, and planning, in addition to a background in data analysis and frontline fundraising. Earlier in her career, she served as a principal gifts analyst and associate director of development for six years at George Washington University, where she helped secure more than $200 million in philanthropic gifts and supported the closure of a billion-dollar comprehensive campaign. 

Before coming to Mary Baldwin, she served as the director of campaign planning for the University of Maryland, spearheading another successful billion-dollar giving campaign. She went on to become senior director of board operations at UMD, providing strategic support for the board of trustees and managing its engagement activities.

Dr. Ernest E. Jeffries started his career at the University of Tennessee as Residence Hall Director. He then served as Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Student Development and Director of Minority Affairs at Western Carolina University before being named VP of Student Engagement at Mary Baldwin University, effective August 29, 2018.

In 1996 he accepted a position at Davidson College, leading to a highly successful 20-year tenure, during which he held various roles and titles including Assistant/Associate Dean of Student Life; Chief Judicial Officer where he served in the Title IX process; and he created the framework for a multicultural affairs office and then served as Director of Multicultural Affairs from 1996 to 2011. Most recently in his role as Associate Dean, Jeffries was responsible for the administration of judicial affairs, multicultural affairs, academic access and disability resources, academic support, student retention programs, and technology resources.

At Davidson he leveraged partnerships with faculty to develop and sustain innovative programs including STRIDE (Students Together Reaching for Individual Development) and the Ethnic Studies concentration, for which he was co-director. In collaboration with Davidson’s Development Office, he worked to secure significant outside funding for student programs. Jeffries also facilitated new approaches to orientation, advising, key college policies (including the code of responsibility), multicultural programming, and Greek organizations.

A visible and approachable advisor, mentor, and teacher, he has consistently and creatively made a positive, holistic difference in the lives of his students.

Jeffries holds a doctor of ministry from United Theological Seminary in Ohio, with a concentration in leadership development; a master of divinity from Hood Theological Seminary in North Carolina; and a master of education and bachelor of music from the University of South Carolina. His professional affiliations include the Southern Association of College Student Affairs, the Association on Higher Education and Disability, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, the Association of Student Conduct Administrators, and the Phi Mu Alpha and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternities. A respected civic leader, Jeffries serves as Police Chaplain in Davidson, North Carolina, and has also served on boards for the local YMCA, Parks and Recreation, and the Cornelius Child Development Center, among many others.

In 2018, in recognition of his innovative leadership, Jeffries received one of only 10 Outstanding First-Year Advocate awards from the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience for exceptional work in the areas of student learning, development, and success.

On his role as Vice President of Student Engagement at MBU, Jeffries said: “I am very excited about becoming a member of the Mary Baldwin University family and serving in this very important inaugural role. I am eager to begin engaging the students, faculty, staff, and community to learn more of and understand the core values and ideals that make Mary Baldwin such a special place.”

Paul Menzer is vice president and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He is the editor of Inside Shakespeare: Essays on the Blackfriars Stage (2006), Romeo and Juliet (2017), and Doctor Faustus (2018). He is author of The Hamlets: Cues, Q’s, and Remembered Texts (2008), Anecdotal Shakespeare: a New Performance History (2015), Shakespeare in the Theatre: The American Shakespeare Center (2016) and of dozens of articles, essays, reviews, and chapters on theatre history, textual criticism, and performance studies. He is past President of the Marlowe Society of America and the founding co-editor of The Hare, an online journal of brief essays and untimely reviews. He also serves on the Editorial Board of Shakespeare Quarterly. He is also a practicing playwright and his plays Anonymous, The Brats of Clarence, Shakespeare on Ice, Invisible Inc., and Robin Hood is Dead have appeared on the Blackfriars stage and elsewhere. He has two forthcoming books, The Brief Life of William Shakespeare and Shakespeare’s Enemies.

As vice president of enrollment management, Matthew Munsey’s primary responsibility is the oversight of the admissions and financial aid offices at Mary Baldwin University. Munsey began his time at Mary Baldwin University in June 2017 as the director of admissions and directly oversaw the admissions office in recruiting the two largest undergraduate classes (Fall 2018 and Fall 2019).

He started his career in higher education at his alma mater, Hampden-Sydney College, in 2005 as the assistant dean of admissions. In 2009, Munsey joined Radford University as the associate director of admissions, seeing a 29% increase in new students in his first year. In 2012, he transitioned from university admissions to secondary school admissions at the Blue Ridge School. During his five-year span at BRS, the school saw student enrollment grow by 30%.

A data analyst at heart,  Munsey completed his M.S. in Business Analytics from Quinnipiac University in the spring of 2018 and enjoys using a data-heavy approach to enrollment management at MBU. He resides in Staunton with his wife, Meghan, and two young children, Emerson and Sawyer.

Cameron Shirley serves as chief of staff and assistant vice president for strategic initiatives at MBU. Her role includes being a strategic advisor to the president; coordinating efforts such as building faculty development programs, data utilization, and strategic planning; and collaborating with offices across campus on major initiatives. 

She most recently served as dean of institutional effectiveness and innovation at Davidson-Davie Community College in North Carolina where she led the development and implementation of their strategic plan; coordinated campus data and assessment efforts; and led multiple student success initiatives focusing on improving recruitment, retention, and completion for online learners and adult students. 

In addition to her role as dean at Davidson-Davie, Shirley served as a part-time history instructor, teaching both in-person and hybrid courses in American history.

While earning her master’s degree in higher education from Elon University, Shirley worked in the Office of the President, helping to coordinate the Elon 2030 strategic planning process, including timeline, communications, survey, community feedback gatherings, document development, and implementation.

Prior to her career in higher education, Shirley taught high school social studies in the Wake County, North Carolina, public school system.

Sean Simplicio’s impressive record of professional accomplishment includes serving for four years as the chief financial officer and chief operating officer of the Opportunity Institute in Berkeley, Cal. There he guided a complex period of evolution for the institute, directing all organizational activities related to finance, human resources, and operations for the nonprofit’s mission focused on improving educational equity.

Prior to the Opportunity Institute, Sean served as chief financial and operating officer for the Breakthrough Collaborative in Oakland, Cal., where he oversaw all financial and operational activities for the national nonprofit focused on improving academic opportunities for disadvantaged students and training the next generation of teachers. He was also instrumental in securing the group’s largest multi-year grant.

Sean also served as director of business and operations for Active Voice in San Francisco and as vice president for finance and administration and CFO of CollegeSpring, Inc. In his earlier career, he spent eight years with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of California at Santa Cruz, a Master of Arts in Public Communications from Fordham University, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley.

Webb most recently served as assistant vice president for digital learning at Northeastern University in Boston, where he managed a large portfolio of programs for non-traditional learners, and as part of a team of executives, developed key educational partnerships with Fortune 100 and 500 companies, and more. At MBU, he works closely with the university board of trustees, executive staff, college deans, faculty, and staff to drive the expansion and enhancement of the university’s online learning programs.

Webb brings to MBU a passion for supporting students with a holistic support system, based on understanding the many ways that people pursue higher education today. MBU administrators see Webb’s comprehensive approach to understanding the needs of today’s students and tailoring the university’s learning resources to support those needs as the key to creating successful, personalized learning in this new era.

“It’s more than taking students from one point to another and meeting them where they are, it’s about taking a 360-degree view. Everyone’s path is different, so it’s critical to support students in all circumstances — to create both a holistic experience and a suite of services that allow them to meet their goals.”