Missouri Western recently hired an associate provost of research, planning and institutional effectiveness; a director of international recruitment and global engagement; a director of the physical plant and a police chief.
Dr. Douglas Davenport began his duties as associate provost of research, planning and institutional effectiveness in January 2015. He had previously been chair of the Department of Justice Systems at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri.
Dr. Davenport had also served as dean of the School of Social and Cultural Studies and interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Division of Social Science at Truman State. He chaired Truman’s Higher Learning Commission Leadership Team, co-chaired a Strategic Planning Advisory Committee, and led several other accreditation and assessment efforts.
Ann Rahmat was named director of international recruitment and global engagement and also began her duties in January.
Rahmat was senior assistant director for international recruitment in the Office of Admissions at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, a position she had held since 2009. The number of international students at Miami increased from 348 in 2008 to 934 in 2013, with a record number of 498 undergraduate international students, including 251 first-year degree-seeking students enrolling this fall.
Jerry Gentry was named director of physical plant and began in December 2014. Gentry brings more than 10 years of experience in plant management and maintenance supervision to the role, as well as 15 years of experience in project management. He was the facilities manager at Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc.
Yvonne Meyer was hired as chief of police and began her duties in February.
She brought more than 20 years of emergency management experience, including 12 years in higher 
education law enforcement with increasing levels of responsibility. Prior to joining Missouri Western, she was chief of public safety at Cape Cod Community College in Massachusetts. Meyer had also served with the Parkland College Police Department for 10 years as police officer, college relations officer and police sergeant.