Inaugural Cohort
Amy Boyle
Purdue University
Bio: Amy Boyle holds a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and a master’s in business administration from Purdue Global. She began her HR career in manufacturing and spent five years there before joining Purdue. She started at Purdue as an HR specialist and worked in all areas of HR — recruitment, compensation, employee relations — before being appointed HR manager, leading a small team. She assumed responsibility for an additional team and was appointed associate director of HR before being promoted to director followed by senior director. In the senior director role, she transitioned HR to that of a strategic business partner and oversaw all HRBP functions. She was then promoted to associate vice president of talent in July 2022 where she oversaw all areas of talent: HRBPs, leadership, organizational development, compensation, and talent acquisition. She currently serves as interim vice president of HR at Purdue. She is a member of CUPA-HR; a Collegiate Management Institute graduate; holds a PDI Ninth House Profiler and Executive Profiler Certification; has presented at CUPA HR conferences, the Big 10 CHRO Conference and Indiana SHRM. She is also a member of the Transform Purdue project.
Fun Fact: I enjoy spending time with my two boys — one is an incoming college senior and one is an incoming high school freshman. I also enjoy anything outdoors and my golden retriever, Addie.
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? Networking! Learning from others’ experiences and how they’ve navigated various challenges.
Joanna Echols
Vanderbilt University
Bio: Joanna Echols has been at Vanderbilt University for the last two years. She has more than 14 years of experience in HR, with experience in higher education; healthcare, including Medicare Advantage and Medicaid; and retail. Joanna has her HR professional certification as well as a Rule 31 Mediator certification.
Fun Fact: I love to bake!
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? Connecting with other HR professionals.
Melissa Gerdes-Leonard
University of Southern California
Bio: Melissa Gerdes-Leonard is associate vice president for client services at the University of Southern California, where she is responsible for fostering a highly professionalized working environment focused on enhancing employee experience and achieving USC objectives. Her prior positions include senior HR business partner at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and executive director of HR and academic affairs for ColumbiaDoctors; HR and OD consultant and head of talent acquisition and employment at Eastern Michigan University; and director of HR and faculty affairs for the University of Miami Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Prior to her career in higher education, she spent 10 years in the healthcare, hospitality and technology industries. She holds a master’s degree in administration with an HR concentration from Central Michigan University and a bachelor’s degree with a double major in psychology and HR from Michigan State University. She is a certified Professional in Human Resources and Human Capital Strategist, and is certified in Principles and Practices of Organizational Development and a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Certified Practitioner, as well as an Integrated Life Coach. As career/vocation is a leading factor in well-being, she advocates for an innovative and holistic approach that melds well-being, positive organizational psychology and performance goals into the people strategy for organizations in the world of work today.
Fun Fact: I moved to sunny Southern California about a year ago and found a new hobby in hiking, and I’m learning to boogie board!
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? Learning more about what is on the mind of my colleagues as we navigate this new world of work, and meeting new people.
Gloria Gruber
Carnegie Mellon University
Bio: As assistant vice president for HR at Carnegie Mellon University, Gloria Gruber leads the employee relations and talent acquisition teams and is responsible for planning, implementing and evaluating HR-related initiatives that support the university’s strategic goals. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business and psychology from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree in HR from Carnegie Mellon. She is certified as a Senior Certified Professional from SHRM and a Senior Professional in Human Resources from HRCI. She is a member of SHRM, CUPA-HR and the Pittsburgh HR Association.
Fun Fact: I became a grandmother this year!
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? The opportunity to build a network of peers doing similar work in higher education.
Robert Hartman
Northwestern University
Bio: Robert Hartman is the assistant vice president, employee experience at Northwestern University. In that capacity, he is responsible for the strategic direction and operations for the university’s talent acquisition, talent development and wellness and HR business partner centers of expertise. Prior to joining Northwestern, he served as senior director, labor and employee relations and interim assistant vice president at Pennsylvania State University and assistant vice chancellor, employee and labor relations at the University of Pittsburgh. He received his law degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and his bachelor’s degree from Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Prior to moving into HR, he represented employers as a labor and employment attorney, specializing in traditional labor relations and wage and hour advice and litigation.
Fun Fact: My son and I are avid gamers and have played many hours of Minecraft and Terraria together.
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? I am looking forward to the opportunity to connect with colleagues and learn.
Jeff Leinbach
Georgia Tech
Bio: Jeff Leinbach joined Georgia Tech in 2021 as deputy director of HR and has served as the HR lead on multiple transformation and change management initiatives. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, he was a consultant to higher education institutions, with most of his work focused on organizational redesign and process redesign efforts. Most of his higher education clients were large public research institutions.
Fun Fact: I am an avid homebrewer and enjoy sharing my creations with friends and neighbors.
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? Broadening and deepening my toolkit through work with recognized industry HR leaders and expanding my network through the academy cohort.
Angie Loving
University of Kansas
Bio: With nearly 30 years of experience working in higher education administration in both HR and finance, Angie Loving has had the opportunity to work with a large and diverse constituency of internal leaders, external organizations and community partners. As assistant vice provost of strategic planning, talent and total rewards at the University of Kansas Office of Human Resource Management, she serves as a senior leader focused on identifying, developing and overseeing initiatives to improve operations and services through building collaborative partnerships and providing a high degree of success and satisfaction. Her experience in HR, finance and project management is extensive and reaches in areas including policy development, risk management, strategic planning, system implementations/upgrades, labor negotiations, talent acquisition, organizational design and more. She is regarded on campus as an effective partner that has strong skills in complex problem solving, strategic thinking, communication and process improvement and is brought in to identify solutions for the campus and its workforce. Angie has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Kansas and maintains her SPHR and other HR certifications in organizational design, analytics, ethics and others.
Fun Fact: I enjoy baking/cooking and traveling.
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? I am looking forward to several things but specifically the coaching and mentorship assignment, leadership development, and networking and forming relationships with colleagues in the field.
Mackenzie Moorefield
University of Missouri
Bio: Mackenzie Moorefield is the executive director for HR at the University of Missouri. Over the last decade, she has served in numerous roles at the University of Missouri and UM System. Most recently, she served as the director of learning and organizational development, focusing on developing leaders, building culture and improving the employee experience. She is currently responsible for leading the evolving HR business partner model in support of the university and its employees. A proud graduate of the Crosby Program and Trulaske College of Business at Mizzou, she is passionate about learning, leadership and maximizing potential, and she draws energy from strategic thinking, efficiency and creativity.
Fun Fact: I enjoy the experience of gardening and cooking with my husband and three-year-old son.
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? Developing a network of colleagues to share ideas and finding ways to improve myself and my institution.
Michelle Reyes Quint
University of California, Irvine
Bio: Michelle Quint is a highly experienced HR professional who serves as the executive director of health human resources for the University of California, Irvine. She has 20+ years of experience with multiple functions with specialties in labor relations, employee relations and strategic HR business partner work. In 2016, she was chosen to serve as the founding executive director of health sciences human resources, and in 2019 became the interim executive director of both health sciences and medical center HR, which soon turned into a permanent position. She has proved to be a forward-thinking, collaborative and supportive leader, and has had a positive impact on the success of UCI both on campus and at the medical center.
Fun Fact: I worked at Disneyland when I was in college, and I had the opportunity to meet and talk with people from all over the country and all over the world. Meeting new people from different backgrounds and from different cultures — and talking to them about what brings them joy — brings me joy!
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? While I am excited about the prospect of learning new skills in HR as well as networking and building relationships with peers, I think I am most looking forward to deepening my personal growth. I am interested in this program as a way to challenge myself and grow personally. Participating in the program will help me deepen my critical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making abilities, especially to the level needed for success as a CHRO.
Ruth Riley
Tulane University
Bio: Ruth Riley has 28 years of experience between the telecommunications and higher education industries. In her career, she has driven organizational success by developing and executing strategic plans, created a strong sense of purpose and direction, and built effective partnerships with stakeholders, resulting in improved organizational performance and transformational team growth. She currently serves as an assistant vice president at Tulane University. She holds a master’s in business administration from the University of New Orleans and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is a SHRM-SCP and fluent in Spanish. She is committed to advancing HR best practices that foster equity, collaboration, innovation and creativity.
Fun Fact: I started learning Italian during COVID, and I love the outdoors.
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? I am looking forward to meeting peers and learning about their experiences and current challenges. I am also looking forward to learning how to advance my knowledge for career growth.
Jeffrey Rowland
University of Pennsylvania
Bio: As the executive director of HR, staff and labor relations, and recruitment services, Jeff Rowland has over 30 years of HR management experience with a strong emphasis in employee and labor relations. He currently leads the development, implementation and administration of the University of Pennsylvania’s comprehensive employee and labor relations programs. He also oversees economic inclusion, unemployment compensation, background checks involving minors, and relocation services for the university. He continues to provide strategic guidance and consultation to senior administrators and managers on various HR issues. He is a skilled negotiator and a trained mediator. He’s held various managerial and leadership positions within University of Pennsylvania’s Division of Human Resources. He is a member of the PA Council of Mediators; serves as a board member of Penn’s Christian Association and Maternity Care Coalition; serves as vice basileus for Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., Omega Lambda Chapter; and is the past president of the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources (NAAAHR) Philadelphia Chapter.
Fun Fact: I love to barbecue and spend time with my family.
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? I’m looking forward to learning new ideas and strategies and meeting the other distinguished participants.
Jane Savage
Yale University
Bio: Jane Savage (she/her) is a member of the HR senior leadership team at Yale University where she leads organizational effectiveness and staff development and two strategic initiatives. One initiative is a campus-wide effort to rethink learning and development at Yale. Another, Advance HR, is an effort to plan and implement multi-year improvements to HR’s processes, service delivery model and user experience. In support of Yale’s Belonging initiative, she also co-leads Emerge, a leadership development effort for early- and mid-career managers and professionals to foster diversity and excellence in Yale’s future leadership ranks. Until recently, she led labor relations and Yale’s problem-solving effort to change its historically fractious union management relations. She served as the university’s chief spokesperson in recent bargaining with unions representing half of Yale’s 11,000 staff and supported three prior rounds of contract negotiations achieved without strikes and with significant changes to culture, compensation and benefits. Prior to Yale, Jane led the Organizational Change group at Cornell ILR’s Extension Division and was an organizational consultant in private practice. She has facilitated or led change initiatives in the higher education, hospitals and manufacturing sectors. She has strong planning and execution skills and excels at identifying strategic opportunity, aligning diverse interest groups, focusing on tangible outcomes and using data and creativity to solve complex problems. In 2018, she received the President’s Award at Yale for her use of data in the performance of her role. She received a master’s degree in public and private management (MBA-equivalent) from the Yale School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Ohio State University. She was raised the oldest of nine in rural Ohio and started her career in Boston and Washington, D.C., as an engineer. She lives in New Haven, Connecticut, with her husband and is the proud parent to two twenty-something sons making their way through the “defining decade.”
Fun Fact: I love reading (although less time these days!), especially historical biographies. Every year around the Ides of March I read something Jane Austen. It makes me laugh and appreciate our human foibles.
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? Getting to know others in my peer group and learning more about other universities and their challenges and innovations.
Jennifer Schaefer
Washington University in St. Louis
Bio: Jennifer Schaefer is the assistant vice chancellor for compensation and benefits at Washington University in St. Louis. In this role, she leads the strategy, design and operations for the university’s compensation and benefits programs, including base pay, merit, executive compensation, retirement, tuition, leaves of absence, health and welfare and wellness. Prior to joining the university in November 2017, she held senior leadership roles in HR at several companies in St. Louis, including Merck KGaA, Arch Coal, SSM and Monsanto. In addition to her extensive HR experience, she has held roles in IT, finance, HR systems and global benefits. Jennifer holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s in business administration from Saint Louis University. She is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and a Certified Compensation Professional (CCP).
Fun Fact: I enjoy working on miniatures and have five “dollhouses” that I work on. I also have an extensive flower garden — mostly roses.
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? Meeting new people and learning some new things.
Angela Stopper
University of California, Berkeley
Bio: Dr. Angela L.M. Stopper is the chief learning officer and director of people and organization development at the University of California, Berkeley. She is responsible for the team who creates and delivers campus-wide learning initiatives supporting supervisory, management, functional and technical learning efforts for the campus’s 9,000 staff and faculty administrators. In addition, her team is responsible for onboarding, re-boarding and overall employee engagement programming; career and professional development programming; and organization development efforts focused on strategic planning, succession planning, change management and more. Before joining UC Berkeley, she was the director of program innovations and executive education at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. Prior to her time in California, she worked as the managing director of global partnerships and director of business programs for Penn State Outreach & Online Education and spent 12 years working with Penn State Executive Programs, concluding her time there as the assistant director of operations. Angela’s research focuses on many facets of organization development. Her book, Assessment and Diagnosis for Organization Development: Powerful Tools and Perspectives for the OD Practitioner, was published in spring 2017. Other highlights of her past research include numerous internal and external corporate needs assessments; workshop development and facilitation in the United States, the Netherlands, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Chile and China; consulting projects focusing on leadership development, coaching, workforce and talent planning and development, as well as diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging; and numerous research papers and publications related to the business of developing people and organizations for success in an ever-changing world. She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and international business, a master’s degree in workforce education and development, and a Ph.D. in workforce education and development with a concentration in HR and OD from Pennsylvania State University.
Fun Fact: I love wine, sunshine, great food mand engaging conversations.
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? Learning what it takes to be a future-ready CHRO, and exploring if this is the right path for me. And if so, discovering my readiness gaps and determining how to close them.
Joni Troester
University of Iowa
Bio: Joan M. Troester is the senior assistant vice president and deputy CHRO at the University of Iowa. In this role, she provides leadership for a broad offering of HR services for faculty and staff with an emphasis on talent, total rewards, employee experience and data/analytics. She leads a team of staff members responsible for talent acquisition, compensation, health and welfare plans, retirement plans, well-being programs, workers’ compensation services and data management. She has experience in many areas of HR, with a focus on strategic planning, development and implementation of system-wide service delivery models and data analytics. In her work, she is focused on integrating the concepts of total rewards in support of the employee experience and well-being, and the overarching people strategy for the University of Iowa. Currently, Joni serves as chair of the board of Ddrectors for the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO), a national non-profit organization focused on employer-based health and well-being. She earned degrees from the University of Iowa, with a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in exercise science, and received her master’s in business administration from the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa. She is a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist and Senior Professional in Human Resources.
Fun Fact: I enjoy biking and hiking with my husband. We hiked the Grand Canyon in May of this year.
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? Meeting new people and learning some new things.
Mani Vang
University of Minnesota
Bio: Mani (pronounced Mah-nee) Vang has more than 15 years of progressive HR experience in the private and public sector. She currently serves as the senior director for employee and labor relations for the Office of Human Resources at the University of Minnesota. In this role, she is responsible for driving a strategic center of expertise to meet the complex employee relations needs of the institution. As the chief negotiator for the university, she directs contract negotiations and is accountable for developing effective working relationships with union leaders. She serves as trusted advisor to senior executive leaders and is involved in the development of inclusive policies and practices to foster a respectful work environment. Prior to this role, Mani was the HR director for the College of Education and Human Development at the university, and prior to that she worked in HR for Target Distribution and the State of Minnesota. She has served on numerous boards providing HR expertise. The Concordia Theological Seminary (Fort Wayne, Indiana) elected her to serve a six-year term on their board of regents, from 2013 to 2019. She also has a history of volunteer service in the community as her past membership with Cultural Jambalaya (2018-20) and her recent service as a member of the board of trustees for the Friends of the St. Paul Library (2021-23) reflect. Cultural Jambalaya is a nonprofit entity that develops educational videos which expand worldviews that support educators in the classroom. Friends of the St. Paul Libraries invests in community libraries through fundraising, advocacy and programming in the belief that libraries are essential to a thriving community. Mani is a member of the Minnesota Public Employer Labor Relations Association, an affiliate chapter of the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association, and has recently started to attend the BTAA employee relations network. In 2019 and 2021, she was the university system HR representative on the search committee for the university’s chief HR officer. She has a bachelor’s degree in HR management from Concordia University, St. Paul, and is a member of SHRM and CUPA-HR.
Fun Fact: I enjoy being an auntie to more than 26 nieces and nephews, and now they have babies that I get to be a GREAT auntie to!!!
What are you most looking forward to about the ARU-HRI CHRO Academy program? I’m looking forward to developing my capability to present my strategic thinking, as well as develop my presentation skills in front of leaders.