Meet the Senior Leadership
Kelly Boysen, Assistant Vice President/Assistant Vice Chancellor, Campus Safety - In 2020, Kelly accepted the position of Assistant Vice President for Campus Safety at the University of Houston. In this role, Kelly oversees departments of emergency management, environmental health & safety, fire & life safety and occupational health. Kelly first joined UH in 2011 in the Office of Emergency Management. By 2014, Kelly served as the Director of Emergency Management and coordinated incident responses during six federally declared disasters to include Memorial Day and Tax Day Floods in 2015 and 2016, Hurricane Harvey, Tropical Storm Imelda, Winter Storm Uri and the COVID-19 pandemic. Kelly also previously served in the Texas State Guard as a Technical Communications Specialist, deploying to disasters and training exercises to support State and Local Authorities during State emergencies.
Kelly has a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a master’s degree in applied Geography from Texas State University, and holds a Certified Emergency Management (CEM) credential from the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM). Kelly is passionate about the Campus Safety Mission in order to promote a safe campus environment for all our UH community members to learn, research, work, live and play.
Chris McDonald, Executive Director of Fire & Life Safety/Fire Marshal - After serving four years in the U.S. Navy, Chris started his firefighting career with the El Paso, Texas Fire Department in 1989. His assignments included: firefighter/EMT, Driver, Inspector, Juvenile Fire Setter Program Coordinator, Arson Investigator, Fire Academy Instructor, Field Training Officer, Lieutenant, and Captain.
After he retired from El Paso, he joined the University of Houston Fire Marshal’s Office as a Deputy Fire Marshal and quickly moved up the ranks to Assistant Fire Marshal and then Fire Marshal. Chris is a state-certified Firefighter, Fire Investigator, Fire Inspector, Instructor, Skills Examiner, and Head of Department – Prevention. Chris holds a bachelor of science degree in business management and is a Fire Executive Management Training program graduate at Sam Houston State University.
Ginger Walker, Director of Emergency Management - A native Houstonian, Ginger Walker has worked on the UH campus for over 25 years. After graduating from Texas Tech University, she traveled the world alongside her husband who served in the United States Marine Corps. A few years later she settled down in her own hometown of Houston accepting a position in the Office of the Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance. She has worked in the executive office of Administration and Finance, UH Police Department, Department of Public Safety, Campus Safety and now in the Office of Emergency Management.
Ginger served as the Deputy Director for many years before accepting the position of Director of Emergency Management in 2020. Ginger joined the Office of Emergency Management in 2012 as the Emergency Management Specialist focusing on all facets of emergency management. Not only does she have extensive knowledge of emergency management in a higher education setting, she has a unique asset in that she has either developed or been directly involved in all of the emergency plans within the Officer of Emergency Management since its inception. Ginger has a FEMA, Level 1 Continuity of Operations (COOP) Practitioner Certification, a COOP Instructor, and holds a Certified Emergency Management credential from the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM). In addition to continuity planning, Ginger is trained as a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Facilitator. Ginger enjoys the higher education environment and especially collaborating and coordinating with other departments, colleges, divisions, Big 12 colleagues, higher education partners as well as state and county counterparts.
Lisa Benford, Director of Environmental Health and Safety; Biological Safety Officer - A native Houstonian, Lisa Benford joined the University of Houston’s Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Office in 2005 as a Laboratory Safety Specialist. Prior to UH, Lisa gained over 15 years of laboratory experience working as a Clinical and Research Microbiologist for the City of Houston’s Tuberculosis Control Program and the University of Texas Health Science Center, respectively. Lisa holds two Bachelors of Science degrees from Houston Baptist (Christian) University, one in Biology and the other in Chemistry.
Lisa has oversight of six complex areas in EHS which include biological safety, chemical safety, hazardous/regulated waste disposal, environmental compliance, occupational safety, and radiation safety. She is also the University’s Biological Safety Officer, reporting to state and federal agencies regarding biological agent research. Lisa is committed to the higher education experience and EHS’ positive impact on the success of faculty, staff and students, through various partnerships. Focusing on the efficiency and proficiency of executing EHS’ mission, Lisa recently obtained the UH certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
Outside of work, Dawn enjoys spending quality time with her daughter, traveling to new cities, and taking cruise vacations with her family.