Mills Matters Changes coming to Provost’s Office Two valued members of the Provost’s Office are moving or have already moved on to new opportunities.
At press time, an interim provost and dean of the faculty had yet to be named.
The first is the provost and dean of faculty herself. After
In addition, Associate Provost for Student Success and
24 years at Mills, Chinyere Oparah will be the new provost
Undergraduate Education Maggie Hunter stepped down from
and vice president of academic affairs at the University of
her position at the end of January to take the role of senior
San Francisco starting this summer. Oparah initially joined
director for UC Berkeley’s Centers for Education Justice and
Mills as a faculty member in the College’s Ethnic Studies
Community Engagement. Hunter came to Mills in 2007 as
Department, working her way to the provost role in 2017 after
a professor of sociology, becoming head of the discipline in
spending time as department chair and associate provost.
2014. She ascended to the role of associate provost in 2017,
The Quarterly profiled Oparah in the fall 2019 issue for her
concentrating on bolstering first-year and transfer programs,
research on and advocacy for Black maternal health and her
as well as participating in many of the College’s equity and
commitment to inclusive excellence in the Mills faculty.
inclusion projects. As of February, Professor of Psychology Christie Chung has
ment of Dr. Julia Chinyere Oparah as Mills’ new provost and
been appointed to the role of interim associate provost. She is
dean of the faculty,” said President Elizabeth L. Hillman in her
also the director of the Mills Cognition Lab and chair for the
announcement of the change. “While the faculty who partici-
Diversity and Social Justice Committee, and she previously
pated in her selection and I both had great confidence in her
served as chair of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity
potential, little did we realize what extraordinary capacity,
Program. Chung has been a member of the Mills faculty for
vision, and dedication she would bring to leading at Mills.”
14 years.
S TE V E BABUL JIAK
“Four years ago, it was my honor to announce the appoint-
Commencement 2021? As of press time, Mills College is planning a virtual Commencement ceremony with additional in-person activities for the Class of 2021, though what they will look like is still unknown. On February 16, President Elizabeth L. Hillman sent an email to the Mills community indicating that the ongoing pandemic would prevent the College from hosting a typical Commencement ceremony with thousands of guests visiting campus. Instead, a team composed of academic, events, and student life staffers are working on alternatives that will allow graduating students to celebrate with their family and friends, both virtually and in person where possible. These plans are scheduled to be announced by late March— likely by the time you receive this magazine. For the most up-to-date information on Commencement 2021, visit mills.edu.
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M I L L S Q U A R T E R LY
