Midway College names Laura Armesto new provost; Board of Trustees elects Donna Moore new chair

Dr. Laura Armesto has been named the new provost and vice president of academic affairs at Midway College. She will join the staff June 24.

Armesto was most recently vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, which like Midway has undergraduate programs for women and graduate programs for both men and women and recent years has expanded its online course offerings. During Armesto's 10 years in the job, she developed more than two dozen programs. Before Chatham, she held several administrative positions at Barry University in Miami. She has reviewed grant applications for the American Association of Colleges and Universities and facilitated workshops for chief academic officers through the Council of Independent Colleges.

"She possesses a wealth of academic and administrative experience as well as a collaborative leadership style that will serve the institution well," Dr. John P. Marsden, president of Midway College, said in a press release. "The search committee believes Dr. Armesto is a strong fit for the institution, and I know her capabilities first hand after working with her earlier in my career." The release said Armesto was selected after a national search.

Dr. Marlene Helm, who served a year as interim vice president of academic affairs, will return to her position as an education professor with oversight of the teacher education graduate program. "I thank Dr. Helm for her service over the last year in the interim position," Marsden said. "The first graduating class of our Master of Arts in Teaching program which she helped establish just received their diplomas at our May commencement. I know under her leadership that program will continue to grow and other graduate level programs will be developed."

Meanwhile, the college's Board of Trustees has a new chair, retired Kentucky Educational Television executive Donna Moore, right, of Lexington. She was elected at the May 9 meeting and immediately succeeded Interim Chair Mira Ball. Moore, a 1962 associate-degree graduate of Midway Junior College, has a bachelor's degree from the University of Kentucky. She has been on the board since 1999, is a past president of the Alumni Board and headed the recent Presidential Search Committee, which recommended the hiring of Marsden early this year.