Faculty News and Notes

A. Sprightly Ryan, inspector general at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., was named an associate professor of law and director of public service at the University of Virginia School of Law. She will join the university in January.

Ryan is a graduate of Yale University and the law school at the University of California at Berkeley. There, she was editor-in-chief of the Ecology Law Quarterly. Ryan has worked for the U.S. Department of Justice and for the Washington law firm Beveridge & Diamond. She has taught at the College of William and Mary Law School.

Christine Thorpe was appointed chair of the department of human services at New York City College of Technology of the City University of New York.  She is an assistant professor in the department.

Dr. Thorpe holds a doctorate in health education and a master’s degree in international educational development from Teachers College at Columbia University.

Autumn K. Tooms, professor and director of the Center for Educational Leadership at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, has been chosen to serve as a juror for the Brock International Prize. The $40,000 prize is awarded to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the field of education.

Professor Tooms holds a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Arizona State University. She earned a master’s degree at Northern Arizona University.