Paula M. Whetsel-Ribeau

Paula Whetsel-Ribeau is currently the vice president for equity and success at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where she has worked for the past seven years. Whetsel-Ribeau has provided innovative leadership in the development of new academic programs, strategic planning for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and collaborative work with faculty and staff in the area of student success. Creating an environment that enables students to experience the rich complexity of life and culture in America has kept her highly motivated throughout her career.

Whetsel-Ribeau previously worked at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she was a co-principal investigator of a $3.4 million, five-year National Science Foundation “Institutional Transformation Grant” established to increase the diversity of women in higher education, specifically in STEM fields. She was also the executive director for the Howard University Alternative Spring Break (ASB) Program and founder and chair of the Howard University Women As Change Agents organization. Prior to Howard University, she served as the assistant vice president for student affairs and as an adjunct faculty member in the College of Education and Human Development at Bowling Green State University. Some of her most significant accomplishments included creating and providing leadership and management of several innovative and successful initiatives with a focus on curriculum and professional development, assessment, and the attainment of grant funds to support these endeavors.