Fell was previously serving as vice president for advancement at Centenary College, Shreveport, La., where she was the chief development officer since 2000.

A native of Stamps, Ark., she earned a bachelor of science in education in English, with a minor in speech, from Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia, and a master of arts in English from Louisiana Technical University in Ruston. She completed a Ph.D. in English from Texas A&M University at College Station. 

Fell began her tenure at Centenary in 1986 as an associate professor of English. During her 14 years as a professor, she developed an interdisciplinary major in communication, which grew to become one of the college’s strongest majors; taught a variety of introductory and upper-level English courses; published scholarly articles and presented at conferences.

When Centenary was selected to participate in a nationwide project on transformation in higher education sponsored by the American Council on Education and the Kellogg Foundation, Fell led Centenary’s ACE-Kellogg team and contributed to an ACE article on how to achieve essential change on a private, church-related college campus. She serves as a member of the Pew Higher Education Roundtable, sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Fell moved to administration as a member of the development team, first as director of foundation and corporate relations from 1998-2000 and then as director of development from 2000-2004. She has worked with senators and representatives to secure $3 million in grants for the sciences and campus security. Her work with the state government resulted in five first-generation scholarships, 88 endowed professorships, two endowed chairs and one endowed super chair in communications, representing a total in private and state donations of $13.3 million.
 
After joining the development team, she assisted with the successful completion of a fund-raising campaign for which the institution set an initial goal of $70 million, increased it to $90 million and reached a total of $103 million.

She was named vice president for advancement at Centenary in 2004, and led the launch of a new comprehensive campaign, “Fulfill the Promise,” which in two years has raised gifts and pledges totaling $40 million, and is on track to achieve its goal despite the worldwide economic downturn. During her years at Centenary, the college’s endowment tripled to more than $120 million at its high point.