President's Cabinet

Stetson University's 10th president, Christopher F. Roellke, PhD, officially took office on July 1, 2020. Upon arrival at Stetson, Roellke immediately emphasized the importance of kindness, empathy and shared aspirations — themes that continue to permeate the Stetson community. Roellke's current goal is to take the university, founded in 1883, from "Florida Gem to National Treasure."

Previously, Roellke was the Dean of the College and a Professor of Education at Vassar College, and upon his departure was named Dean of the College Emeritus. As Dean of the College, he was one of three tenured faculty members on the President's Senior Leadership Team and oversaw the Dean of Studies, Dean of Students, Campus Life and Diversity, Career Development, portions of Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Title IX, Accessibility and Educational Opportunity, Safety and Security, and Campus Activities. He was the founder/fundraiser of Vassar College's Urban Education Initiative. Roellke is also a past president for the Association of Education Finance and Policy, and as an American Council on Education Fellow, he served as a visiting scholar at Yale Law School, conducting research on school finance litigation.

Roellke earned his BA degree in political science from Wesleyan University and MS and PhD degrees in the social and philosophical foundations of educational administration from Cornell University. He was a 2014 Fulbright Scholar.

President Roellke's leadership journey at Stetson has been joyfully supported by his wife, Kim, and their three daughters: Emma, Julia and Olivia (Liv). Kim is a small animal veterinarian and is now licensed to practice in Florida. Emma is a physician and Chief Resident at the Winthrop Hospital in Long Island, New York. Julia is completing graduate studies in Environmental Science and Sustainability at the Lund University in Lund, Sweden. Liv is an undergraduate student at Elon University, studying exercise science and sports management.

Krista Bofill has more than 25 years of successful and progressive leadership experience in developing and managing donor, investor and constituent relationships, and brings a diverse set of fundraising and higher education experience to the position.

Most recently, Bofill served as vice president of Institutional Advancement and Communications at Converse College, as the institution implemented a new strategic plan and fundraising. She was also a key member of the leadership team, whose work resulted in the creation of Converse University, with Converse College for Women as part of the university.

At Converse, Bofill more than doubled the annual fund, increased the annual run rate of major gifts, created new development events and increased community engagement while implementing a rebrand.

Provost Skomp is a leading expert in Russian languages and literature. In addition to her background in Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, Skomp has extensive experience in faculty development, curriculum management, inclusion and diversity, grants, research and faculty-led study abroad. At the University of the South (Sewanee), she helped develop eight successive years of Fulbright recipients through active advising.

Elizabeth A. Skomp is an enthusiastic leader who shares a strong commitment in liberal arts education with demonstrated value for inclusion and equity. Skomp believes in Stetson's teacher-scholar model, focus on student success and interest in continuing to build a diverse, inclusive, and equitable institutional environment exemplifies what she most values in higher education.

Skomp is the current president of the Southern Conference on Slavic Studies. Her 2015 book, "Ludmila Ulitskaya and the Art of Tolerance," stands out among numerous research grants, published articles and reviews, and conference presentations.

As the associate dean for Faculty Development and Inclusion, and professor of Russian at The University of the South (Sewanee), where she taught starting in 2005, her focus was on faculty development and grant seeking, curricular reform, integrated advising, dialogue across differences, study abroad, and numerous diversity and inclusion initiatives.

In her previous position, Skomp oversaw Sewanee's Center for Teaching, Office of Advising, Office of Undergraduate Research, Writing Across the Curriculum and the University Art Gallery. Skomp previously served at Sewanee as chair of the Russian Department, director of the Sewanee Summer in Russia Program, and director of Sewanee's interdisciplinary Humanities Program, and has taught in the Sewanee School of Letters.

Skomp has taught at Williams College, DePaul University and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She holds a BA from Indiana University and a PhD from University College London, which she attended as a British Marshall Scholar.

Jeffery (Jeff) T. Gates offers nearly 25 years of experience combining his skills in student affairs, enrollment management and marketing by utilizing effective enrollment planning, admissions, recruitment, retention and financial aid strategies. While he has served both the private and public sectors, he joined Stetson University in May 2023 as the inaugural senior vice president for enrollment management and university marketing.

Previously, Gates served as Director of Enrollment Services for the State University of New York System Administration working on recruitment strategy for the 64-campus system along with oversight of the Recruitment Response Center. Before that, as Director of Enrollment Management, overseeing areas within admissions, enrollment operations, registrar, and financial aid at the Premier Public University in the Northeast, Binghamton University, State University of New York. He began his higher education career at Bryant University after spending time in the corporate world focused on operations and effectiveness.

Gates is a sought-after presenter on topics of computer systems, operations effectiveness, non-instructional student assessment, campus visits, annual admission plan development and strategic enrollment plan organization and creation. He has implemented several computer systems (Student Information Systems and CRMs) leading to efficiencies in operations, enhanced communication flows and coordination of student records for multiple areas. His expertise in campus visit program saw increased visitors to campus from 15,000 annual visitors to over 30,000 during a 4-year period at Binghamton. More recently, he continues to present on and research pricing strategies. Most notably for him is Utica College's Tuition Reset announcement which gained national attention in 2015. As the co-architect of the reset, Gates was intimately involved with the research, planning, launch and execution of the plan.

Gates' teams have won national awards from 3Enrollment Marketing and RNL, including the 2021 Lee Noel-Randi Levitz Retention Excellence Award. Gates is a frequent presenter at regional and national conferences, including NACAC, NACUBO, EACUBO, NYSTAA, SUNYCAP, NYSACAC, among others. He has also attended and completed the Executive Leadership Academy, sponsored by the American Academic Leadership Institute. Gates has consulted on various recruitment topics and strategic enrollment planning with Bluffton University, the University of Sioux Falls, West Chester University, the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, Mercy College of Ohio, Hiram College, Elizabethtown College and the University of Texas at Arlington among others.

As a passionate leader in the field, Gates works to ensure students are always at the core of his work. As a first-generation college student, he has witnessed firsthand the transformative power of higher education.

Gates received his bachelor's degree from Bryant University (RI), master's degree from Binghamton University (NY) and Doctorate in Law and Policy from Northeastern University (MA).

Jeremy DiGorio serves as Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer at Stetson University, overseeing Human Resources, Budget and Finance, Information Technology, Facilities and Capital Projects, Risk Management, Investments, Real Estate, and Legal Affairs. He is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of dedicated service in Higher Education, boasting a wealth of expertise spanning various domains such as business, finance, and student affairs.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Secondary Education from Clemson University, followed by a master's degree in Higher Education Administration at the University of Connecticut. Throughout his career, Jeremy has made significant contributions to Rollins College, the University of Connecticut, and currently, Stetson University.

With a commitment to fostering leadership development, currently, Jeremy holds the position of 2nd Vice President for SACUBO (Southern Association of College and University Business Officers), where he actively contributes to the organization's mission of professional development and excellence in higher education administration. In his previous role as Business Partner Relations Coordinator, Jeremy demonstrated remarkable skill in securing increased financial sponsorship for the southern region, thereby enhancing the resources available for educational initiatives and institutional growth. Jeremy's dedication to excellence extends beyond his professional roles, as evidenced by his recognition as one of Winter Park Magazine's "People to Watch" in December 2021.

John Downey, PhD, is the Vice President of Campus Life and Student Success. Downey came to Stetson University in January of 2023 and leads a dedicated team at Stetson, poised to provide students with unparalleled support and opportunities for personal and academic growth. His vision encompasses a diverse array of initiatives aimed at fostering a vibrant campus community that promotes an enriched collegiate experience for all students.

Downey was previously the chief student affairs officer at Widener University, which was marked by proactive involvement in critical university initiatives, including crisis management, a COVID Task Force, and campus reopening efforts during the pandemic. Prior to his role at Widener, Downey served as Dean of Students at Queens University of Charlotte, where he honed his leadership skills over 16 years. Downey holds a doctorate in higher educational leadership and policy studies from Indiana University and a master's degree in business administration from the College of New Jersey.

Downey serves on the President's leadership team and leads the university emergency management team

Ricky Ray joined Stetson Athletics in May of 2024 as the Director of Athletics. Prior to Stetson, Ray was at William and Mary where he last served as the Executive Associate Athletics Director.

Ray was hired in January of 2022 as the Tribe's Senior Associate Athletics Director for external operations and was promoted to Executive Associate Athletics Director in March of 2024.

While at William and Mary, Ray served as the department's chief business strategist.  He oversaw the marketing, communications, creative services, ticketing, and corporate sales efforts. Ray was responsible for developing revenue generation initiatives, including strategic partnerships and external contracts such as multimedia rights, apparel partner, licensing, and merchandising. In addition, Ray was the sport administrator for men's basketball and women's soccer and handles football scheduling.

Prior to William and Mary, Ray served as the Deputy Athletics Director at Campbell University in North Carolina, his alma mater. During his six-year tenure at Campbell, Ray increased corporate sales revenue by 142 percent, ticket revenue by 65 percent and licensing revenue by 47 percent. In the COVID-19 shortened 2020 football season, he put together a four-game series against Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents and received national television coverage and millions of dollars in exposure. Additionally, Ray served as the sport administrator for football, men's basketball and men's soccer.

Prior to Campbell, Ray was the general manager for corporate sales at Troy University and director of external affairs for the Carolina Mudcats. He was also a radio/television broadcaster for ISP Sports at East Carolina University. He also worked in media relations and marketing at Georgia Southern University.

In 2023, Ray graduated from Marshall University with a Doctor of Education degree. Additionally, Ray has a Bachelor of Art degree in mass communication from Campbell University and a Master of Science degree in sport science from the University of Central Missouri.

As Stetson University's Executive Officer for Institutional Inclusive Excellence, Carmen Johnson, Esq. works across Stetson's three campuses to lead the development and implementation of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives in support of the university's strategic plan. With her office based at the College of Law coupled with frequent office hours on the DeLand campus, Carmen also works in collaboration with university leadership and partners to promote cross-campus engagement and initiatives. With over a decade of experience in building inclusive frameworks and strategies, for which she's received multiple awards, Carmen also co-administers Stetson's partnership with the St. Petersburg Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Center, the only center of its kind in Florida. She has served as an adjunct law faculty member for the College of Law's Constitutional Law and the Civil Rights Movement course, and she often leads lectures and workshops on a variety of higher education, inclusivity, legal education topics at universities and conferences across the country. Originally from Tallahassee, Florida, Carmen earned her Bachelor's from the University of Miami and JD from Stetson's College of Law. She practiced administrative law, class action litigation, and postconviction law in Florida before returning to Stetson to fulfill her passion for higher education leadership and promoting access to inclusive and equitable learning and work environments. In addition to her role at Stetson, Carmen is licensed to practice law in Florida and focuses her legal expertise on pro bono service and community/civic education. She also enjoys grant writing and designing pipeline education programs to promote access to higher education and legal education. In her free time, she enjoys time with family and friends and is an avid reader across many genres, including history, historical fiction, and science fiction.

As a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, he carried out tropical disease research that focused on the development of drug resistance. As a faculty member at Stetson University, he has been recognized for teaching excellence receiving Stetson's John Hague Award (2011), Stetson's William Hugh McEniry Award (2013), and the American Chemical Society Outstanding Teacher at a Four-Year College award (2011). Harry values collaborating with faculty and working with students in his capacity as a teacher, advisor, and mentor.

Lynn Schoenberg, EdS, is the Associate Vice President for Campus Life and Student Success and Dean of Students. Schoenberg has been at Stetson University since 2007, serving in a number of roles before becoming the Dean of Students in January of 2015. Previous roles included work in wellness, mental health and health promotion and Co-Interim Vice President from 2021 to 2022. Lynn became a licensed mental health counselor in 2018. Her Masters and Education Specialist degrees are both in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Florida. Prior to working at Stetson, Lynn additionally worked for the National Kappa Delta Sorority.

Lynn works directly with Wellness and Recreation, Community Standards, Student Counseling Services and Stetson Health Services. As Dean of Students, she leads student care and support initiatives as the universities chief student advocate, including the HattersCare behavioral intervention team. Lynn loves holding weekly open office hours for all students outside of the Carleton Union Building (CUB).

Rina serves as the Chief of Staff in the President's Office and Senior Development Officer. In this hybrid position, Rina assists the President in accomplishing the top priorities of the University while building authentic relationships with alumni and parents to understand where their talents, passions and resources might connect within the university to have the greatest impact on the current student experience.

Previously, Rina served as Stetson's associate vice president for development as well as dean of students and vice president for campus life. This makes her a tremendous resource for parents and alumni alike. Rina joined the Stetson team in 2005 after nearly a decade at Rollins College and other small private liberal arts institutions throughout the country. Throughout her 30 plus years in higher education, she has been involved in numerous professional associations and has presented at several national conferences. In 2013, Rina was presented with the NASPA Region III Bob E. Leach Award for Outstanding Service to Students.

Rina holds a bachelor's degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University and a master's degree in Higher Education Administration from Western Illinois University.

Kyle C. Longest is the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Sociology. Before joining Stetson University he was the Associate Academic Dean at Furman University.

While pursuing a variety of research interests, Longest has spent his career seeking to understand adolescents and how they make the transition into young adulthood. Specifically, he focuses on how various factors teens experience then impact their religious and academic trajectories into early adulthood. Most recently he has examined what shapes young peoples' perspective on the relationship between religion and science and in turn how that understanding affects the academic path they pursue. He is the author or co-author of several publications, including two books: Using Stata for Quantitative Analyses (now in its 3rd edition) and Young Catholic America: Emerging Adults In, Out of, and Gone from the Church (Oxford University Press), co-author with Christian Smith, Jonathan Hill, and Kari Christofferson.

As a Professor of Sociology, Longest has taught several courses including the Sociology of Religion, Deviance, Research Methods, including Quantitative Analysis, Youth and Adolescence, Sociology of Sports, Sports Analytics, Discovering Greatness and the Sociology of Harry Potter. He also served as the Chair for the Department of Sociology at Furman University Department for 4 years.
Longest received his M.A. (2004) and Ph.D. (2009) in Sociology from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and his B.A. in sociology and history from Indiana University - Bloomington (2002).

Yiorgos A. Bakamitsos serves as Dean of the School of Business Administration and is a professor of marketing. Before joining Stetson University he was the assistant dean for executive education at the A.B. Freeman School.

Bakamitsos' work has appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research and the Journal of Consumer Behaviour. He is a member of the American Marketing Association, the Association for Consumer Research, the American Psychological Association, the Society for Consumer Psychology, the Hellenic Management Association and the Hellenic Institute for Marketing.

He has taught graduate, undergraduate and executive education courses at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, the AB Freeman School of Business at Tulane University, Centrum University in Lima, Peru, Bocconi University in Milan, Italy and the ALBA Graduate Business School in Athens, Greece.

Bakamitsos has served as a research director for consumer behavior and electronic commerce at the Glassmeyer-McNamee Center for Digital Strategies at Tuck School of Business as well as on the editorial board of the Journal for Consumer Psychology. He is an ad-hoc reviewer for the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Consumer Psychology and the Electronic Journal for E-Commerce Tools and Applications. He also serves as a member at the Advisory Board for Rebirth Financial and served on the boards of McGraw Hill's Grade Summit Group and the Shiyao Investment Bank.

Ecuadorian-American pianist Washington García Eljuri began his musical studies at the age of six. He has studied under renowned teachers such as Genoveva Granja, Toshko Stoyanov, Ann Schein, Yoheved Kaplinsky, and Julian Martin. García holds a Bachelor of Music from the National Conservatory of Music in Ecuador, and both Master's and Doctoral degrees from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He graduated at the age of 25, becoming the youngest Latin American to receive a doctoral degree in piano performance from this prestigious institution. He is the recipient of the "Condecoración Vicente Rocafuerte," the highest Cultural Achievement Award given by the Ecuadorian National Assembly.

García's successful debut performance at the age of six led to numerous performances at the most significant cultural centers in Ecuador. He has won first prizes at the Guillermo Wright-Vallarino National Piano Competition in Quito, the Elizabeth Davis Memorial Piano Competition, the 19th International Young Artist Piano Competition in Washington DC, the 2004 Baltimore Music Club Piano Competition, and the Harrison Winter Piano Competition. As the Harrison Winter winner at the Peabody Institute, he was selected to perform with the Peabody Concert Orchestra. He was also a top prize winner at the Yale Gordon Piano Competition and the Russell Wonderlic Piano Competition. Since his debut with the Ecuadorian National Symphony Orchestra at age 15, he has been an active recitalist, soloist, and lecturer in prestigious venues across Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France, Spain, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Japan, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States. In the US, he has offered solo recitals and master classes in almost 30 states.

García's international debut occurred in Santiago, Chile, where he performed for former President Patricio Aylwin at the Claudio Arrau International Piano Seminar. He was subsequently chosen from contestants representing 33 countries by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC to receive one of two $25,000 grants in its Fellowships of the Americas Program. This program brought him to the US for intensive piano studies with Professor Julian Martin at the Peabody Institute. Under this program's auspices, he performed at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, the Organization of American States, the World Bank, the Inter-American Bank, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Department of State, and the Mexican Cultural Center in Washington DC, among other venues. He also performed at the National Library and Archives in Ottawa, Canada, on Glenn Gould's piano. García has performed in Ecuador with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Cuenca Symphony Orchestra, and the Loja Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a guest soloist with the Green Valley Chamber Orchestra in Las Vegas, the Susquehanna Symphony Orchestra in Maryland, and toured Italy with the Texas State University Chamber Orchestra. Most recently, he performed with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra to a sold-out audience. He has also been featured as a guest soloist with the Austin Symphony in Texas, the Springfield Symphony in Massachusetts, and the Omaha Symphony, under the batons of maestros Peter Bay, Kevin Rhodes, and Thomas Wilkins, respectively. García has performed and recorded for Radio Television Hong Kong, Opus Classical Radio in Mexico City, WFMT in Chicago, TV Spain, Rogers Broadcasting Company in Canada, and worldwide broadcasts through Univision. He has been featured in several journals and magazines, including the Austin and Texas Monthly, Time Out Jakarta, The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, The Washington Post, the Omaha World-Herald, the Orlando Sentinel, and others in Asia, North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East.
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García has served on the faculty of the Peabody Preparatory of the Johns Hopkins University and Texas State University, where he was a Professor of Piano, Coordinator of the Keyboard Area, and the Assistant Director of the School of Music. He is currently the Dean of the School of Music at Stetson University in Florida. Prior to his appointment at Stetson, he was the founding Director of the School of Music at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he held the Robert M. Spire Professorship as a full Professor of Piano. He became a Steinway Artist in 2014 and a US citizen in March 2013. He resides in Lake Mary, Florida, with his wife Valeria and their sons, Mateo and Nico.

Katy Webb has been serving as the Betty Drees Johnson Dean of the Library and Learning Technologies at Stetson University's duPont-Ball Library since July of 2024. Prior to coming to Stetson, she held a variety of library positions at public and private institutions, as well as serving as a trustee on the board of a public library in Madison, CT. She received her MLIS degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2011. During her time at UW-Madison, Katy worked primarily at the MERIT (Media, Educational Resources and Information Technology) Library, which serves as the library, IT support, instructional design, and classroom support for the highly-ranked School of Education at UW. In 2011, she started as the Instructional Design Librarian at East Carolina University in the Research and Instructional Services department. In 2014, she assumed the role of Head of Research and Instructional Services, which included oversight for a team of 7 faculty librarians and 4 paraprofessional staff members. This team was responsible for teaching over 400 information literacy sessions per year, as well as conducting hundreds of one-on-one research consultations. During her tenure, the RIS team implemented a scaffolded instructional program, as well as engaging in curriculum mapping for each major in the university.

In 2020, Katy Webb accepted the position of Director of Yale Access Services and Bass Library at Yale University. She worked on many space projects in the libraries at Yale, as she was the space owner and representative for the user experience for the Bass Library, and for iconic user-facing spaces in Yale's historic Sterling Memorial Library. She was actively involved in the renovation of the Linonia and Brothers Reading Room, a $9M capital project, and coordinated the selection and reinstallation of the collection of 17,000 leisure reading books in the room.

Katy Webb received tenure and promotion at East Carolina University to Associate Professor and holds the rank of Professor at Stetson University. She is deeply committed to being a teacher-scholar and has written and presented extensively, including the 2018 book Development of Creative Spaces in Academic Libraries: A Decisionmaker's Guide, published by Chandos Publishing. Katy's research interests include library space usage, library labs, library student employee engagement, how libraries can contribute to the High Impact Practices for Student Success (HIPs), and mindfulness, yoga, and burnout in libraries. She has spoken at national and international conferences on these topics and others. A full listing of her academic articles and books is available on ORCID.

Katy was the recipient of a Fulbright Specialist grant that took her to Leiden, in the Netherlands in 2019 and 2022, to partner with the Centre for Digital Scholarship in the University of Leiden library. This productive collaboration resulted in three written articles and multiple presentations, some in conjunction with her Fulbright host, Laurents Sesink. The Fulbright project included reviewing the library's space to consider a lab for CDS but additionally included research on the drivers of library labs and their impact on Open Science in the Netherlands and worldwide.

Broadly speaking, my expertise is in how people (especially Americans) think about politics. In this way, my main areas of concern are both political psychology and political philosophy. I have published extensively in the field of American political psychology; while this field is often heavily quantitative, it nevertheless has considerable philosophical importance.

My research agenda so far has focused on the factors that drive people to believe in conspiracy theories. In the American context, the factors are largely two: partisanship and political suspicion. My research agenda has evolved to include numerous aspects of partisanship, including political tolerance, political polarization, and political values. My research agenda has also evolved in the other direction: the philosophy of political suspicion or political (dis)trust.

Steven Smallpage's main research areas are empirical political psychology, American political culture and development, and the history of normative political philosophy. He has coauthored forthcoming research on the importance of American political values on polarization. His current book project examines the historical, philosophical and empirical aspects of conspiracy thinking in the American mass public.