Nine Women Appointed to New University Faculty Positions

Elizabeth Bjerke was named chair of the department of aviation in the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences at the University of North Dakota. She has served as associate chair of the department for the past two years.

Professor Bjerke holds a bachelor’s degree, an MBA, and a doctorate in educational leadership, all from the University of North Dakota.

Kibibi Voloria Mack-Shelton was appointed professor of history in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina. From 2002 to 2008, she was the Alice and Tyler Hayes Endowed Chairperson of American Studies at the University of Richmond. Most recently, she was a visiting professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Professor Mack-Shelton is the author of several books including Parlor Ladies and Ebony Drudges: African American Women (University of Tennessee Press, 1999) and Ahead of Her Time in Yesteryear: Geraldyne Pierce Zimmerman Comes of Age in a Southern African American Family (University of Tennessee Press, 2010).

Dr. Mack-Shelton is a graduate of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne. She holds a master’s degree in history from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. from Binghamton University of the State University of New York system.

Brett Gilbert was promoted to associate professor of management and global business at Rutgers University. She was also granted tenure. Dr. Gilbert has been on the Rutgers faculty since 2005. Previously, she taught at Texas A&M University and Georgia State University.

Dr. Gilbert is a graduate of Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in entrepreneurship from Indiana University.

Joyce Castle was named a University Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas. An internationally acclaimed opera star, Professor Castle teaches voice in the university’s School of Music.

Professor Castle is a graduate of the University of Kansas and holds a master of music degree from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester.

Yuvay Meyers Ferguson was promoted to associate professor of marketing at Howard University in Washington, D.C. She was also awarded tenure. Professor Meyers Ferguson has been on the Howard University faculty since 2005.

Dr. Meyers Ferguson is a graduate of Howard University. She holds a master’s degree from American University in Washington, D.C., and a Ph.D. in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin.

Joan C. Han was appointed associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. She will also serve as the founding director of the University of Tennessee Le Bonheur Pediatric Obesity Center. She has been serving as an assistant clinical investigator at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Maryland.

Dr. Han is a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Medical School.

Ann S. Masten was named a Regents Professor, the highest faculty honor bestowed by the University of Minnesota board of regents. Dr. Masten is the Irving B. Harris Professor of child psychology and the Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the College of Education and Human Development.

Dr. Masten is a graduate of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota. Professor Masten is the author of Ordinary Magic: Resilience in Development, scheduled for publication next month by Guilford Press.

Rebecca C. Harris was appointed the Cannan Term Professor at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. She has been on the university’s faculty since 2005. Dr. Harris is the author of Black Robes, White Coats: The Puzzle of Judicial Policymaking and Scientific Evidence (Rutgers University Press, 2008).

Dr. Harris is a magna cum laude graduate of Western Washington University. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Illinois.

Dawn Herd-Clark was named interim chair of the department of history, geography, political science, and criminal justice at Fort Valley State University in Georgia. She is an associate professor in the department.

Dr. Herd-Clark is a graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She holds a master’s degree in African American studies and a Ph.D. in American history from Florida State University.