Executive Leadership
at Mary Baldwin University
Presidential Search

Dr. Fox, a pianist and musicologist, has served as President and Professor of Music at Mary Baldwin University since July 2003.  Under her leadership, Mary Baldwin has become a distinctive small coeducational university that maintains its historic commitment to the Mary Baldwin College for Women.  MBU cultivates innovation and academic excellence through a constellation of signature programs.

Fox led the establishment of the Spencer Center for Civic and Global Engagement to foster inclusive community and civic and global citizenship.  Over her tenure, the university has established 25 new and enhanced academic programs, including the Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences which opened in 2014 on a new campus in the heart of Augusta County’s thriving Blue Ridge Life Sciences corridor and offers Mary Baldwin’s first doctoral degrees.

Mary Baldwin University completed this year its $80 million comprehensive fundraising campaign.  Fox was instrumental in bringing the Heifetz International Music Institute to Staunton in 2012, with a new home on the Mary Baldwin campus for six weeks each summer.

Active nationally in higher education and a devoted leader in the Staunton/Augusta community, Dr. Fox was named the 2011 Citizen of the Year by the Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce. She is a past member of the board of directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) and of the American Council on Education (ACE); past chair of the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia (CICV) and of the Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges (VFIC); trustee of the Frontier Culture Museum, of the American Shakespeare Center; and a member of Rotary International.

Prior to her tenure at Mary Baldwin, Dr. Fox served as a Professor of Music, Dean and Assistant Vice President for Strategic Planning at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for 20 years. She earned her Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music.   Dr. Fox has published fourteen articles and books and presented scholarly papers around the world.

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.

As vice president of university advancement, Charles E. “Chuck” Davis III is a member of the president’s cabinet and oversees alumni relations and fundraising for MBU.

A seasoned leader with more than 25 years in the higher and secondary education sectors, Davis brings a demonstrated record of exceptional success in building sustainable advancement programs.

“Mary Baldwin is a special place — with a rich history and creative approach to its future,” Davis said. “I am thrilled to lead the advancement team. It will be a joy to meet our alumni, parents, and friends in the coming months as together we work to advance the university.”

Davis has previously worked in global fundraising, building philanthropy programs at the Robert Gordon University Foundation in Aberdeen, Scotland, as chief executive officer from 2012–15, and most recently as director of strategic development at the International School of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. In each position he has helped facilitate the most significant gifts in the institution’s history and built processes and teams for sustained success.

Prior to this international work, Davis served from 2003–12 as the director of the Ever Elon campaign and assistant vice president for university advancement at Elon University. Over his 10-year tenure he served as the key architect of Elon’s largest comprehensive campaign, surpassing the $100 million goal and garnering a Grand Finalist Award in 2009 for campaign communications and events from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.

Prior to his work at Elon, Davis served as interim president and director of development for the Medical Foundation of East Carolina University, and director of development at the Graduate School of North Carolina State University. Davis is a graduate of Furman University. He and his wife, Flora Hall Davis, have two daughters.

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.

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.”

As senior director of board operations and principal gift officer to the president, Megan McAllister’s primary responsibility is to serve as the liaison between the president, administration, and the Board of Trustees and support the president in fundraising. McAllister began her time at Mary Baldwin University in 2017 as the assistant director of the annual fund. She grew signature programs in the annual fund like A Day to Lead the Way: MBU’s Annual Day of Giving and Deck the Hills before joining the President’s Office in early 2022. She has built lifelong relationships with alumni, donors, students, and colleagues across MBU’s three colleges. 

She started her career in primary education as a teacher in Staunton City Schools before making the transition to higher education. A lifelong Stauntonian and third generation member of First Presbyterian Church, McAllister completed a childhood dream of earning a degree from Mary Baldwin in 2018 when she received her MEd. She resides in Staunton and enjoys spending free time with her family and at the beach. 

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.

Dr. Lisa Shoaf joined Mary Baldwin University in 2012 after 20 years on faculty at the Department of Physical Therapy at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), where she served as the Director of Clinical Education. She served as the founding Program Director for the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences (MDCHS)/MBU from 2012 – 2020, stepping into the role as Dean in January 2021.

She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1981 with a BS in Physical Therapy, in 1990 from James Madison University with an MS degree in Health Science and Sports, and completed her PhD in Education at VCU in 2002. She is a 2014 graduate of the APTA Educational Leadership Fellowship. Dr. Shoaf’s practice area is in orthopedics with a specialty in performing arts medicine. She has worked with several college dance departments, as well as the Richmond Ballet, and was an adjunct instructor in the Department of Dance and Choreography while at VCU.

Her teaching areas include ethics, leadership, professional issues, and more recently, developing skills in interprofessional collaboration. Dr. Shoaf’s research areas include clinical education, performing arts, and interprofessional education development. She has served in multiple leadership roles in the PT profession including president of the Virginia Physical Therapy Association from 2006–08, a Delegate to the APTA House of Delegates annually since 1996, and in various roles for the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy.

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.”

Building upon her experience in strategic and collaborative leadership, Tynisha Willingham, PhD, is dedicated to shaping the MBU academic enterprise as interim provost.

Willingham has a deep understanding of the critical role of data in advancing academic programs, as well as extensive knowledge of external trends in higher education. Together with MBU leadership, faculty, and staff, she is striving to re-create and re-envision academics for a post-pandemic landscape, with an overarching commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“We are a family that values rich and hard dialogues about pressing issues while holding a space for one another’s common humanity,” Willingham said. “I am excited to share in the vision where our faculty and holistic programming efforts meet students where they are; whether on our residential campus, Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences, or through MBU Online.”

Willingham came to MBU to serve as dean of the College of Education, having previously held the position of associate academic dean and associate professor of education at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin.

In addition to her accomplished record as an administrator, Willingham’s research expertise encompasses literacy practices in diverse settings, community engaged learning, and leadership and development for the scholarly community. She earned her BS from Pennsylvania State University; MEd from the University of Texas, Pan-American; and PhD from Pennsylvania State University.