Three Women Named to Endowed Chairs at Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, has announced the appointment of nine faculty members to endowed chairs. Three of the appointees are women.

Lorrie Moore has joined the creative writing faculty at the university and was named to the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in English. Previously, she was the Delmore Schwartz Professor in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Professor Moore is the author of numerous collections of short stories and novels including her most recent book, A Gate at the Stairs. She is a summa cum laude graduate of St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, and holds a master of fine arts degree from Cornell University.

Sheila H. Ridner was appointed to the Martha Rivers Ingram Chair in Nursing at the university. Her research focuses on the study of lymphedema and she sits on the board of directors of the Lymphatic Research Foundation.

Dr. Ridner is a graduate of the University of Kentucky. She holds a master’s degree from the College of St. Francis Graduate School in Joliet, Illinois, a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in nursing science from Vanderbilt University.

Emilie M. Townes was named to the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Chair. She is a professor of ethics and society and the 16th dean of the Vanderbilt Divinity School. Before coming to Vanderbilt last year, Dr. Townes was the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African American Religion and Theology at Yale Divinity School.

Dr. Townes holds a bachelor’s degree and a master degree in divinity, and a doctorate of divinity from the University of Chicago. She holds a second doctorate from the joint Northwestern University/Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary program.