The State University of New York Names Six Women to Distinguished Professorships

The board of trustees of the State University of New York has appointed 18 faculty members to the rank of Distinguished Professor. Since the Distinguished Professor position was established in 1963, 1,023 faculty members have received the honor. Of this year’s 18 designations as Distinguished Professors, six are women.

Sharon A. Brangman is a professor of medicine and chief of geriatric medicine at the SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. She specializes in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Dr. Brangman is the former president of the American Geriatric Society. Dr. Brangman received her undergraduate degree in biology from Syracuse University and her medical degree from SUNY Upstate Medical University. She joined the faculty at Upstate Medical University in 1989.

Barbara G. Delano is a professor and chair of the department of community health services at Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. Her research is focused on prevention and treatment of end-stage renal disease. Dr. Delano holds a master of public health degree from the Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine at Rutgers University in New Jersey. She received her medical degree at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

Jessica Fridrich is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Binghamton University. She is the author of the textbook Steganography in Digital Media: Principles, Algorithms, and Application (Cambridge University Press, 2009). Professor Fridrich earned a master’s degree in applied mathematics from the Czech Technical University in Prague and a Ph.D. in systems science from Binghamton University.

Carleen Graham is a professor of opera at the State University of New York at Potsdam. She also serves as director of the Center for Undergraduate Research and director of the Crane Opera Ensemble at the university. Dr. Graham joined the faculty at SUNY-Potsdam in 1991. She is a graduate of Ohio University in Athens. Professor Graham earned a master’s degree in vocal performance from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and a doctorate in education from Teachers College at Columbia University.

Karen Johnson-Weiner is a professor of linguistic anthropology at SUNY-Potsdam. She is a leader in Amish and Mennonite studies. She is the author of Train Up a Child: Old Order Amish and Mennonite Schools (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007) and New York Amish: Life in the Plain Communities of the Empire State (Cornell University Press, 2010). Professor Johnson-Weiner is a graduate of Hope College in Holland, Michigan, where she double majored in French and history. She holds a master’s degree from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in linguistics from McGill University in Montreal.

Nancy J. Tomes is a professor of history at Stony Brook University. She joined the faculty at the university in 1978. Professor Tomes is the author of The Gospel of Germs: Men, Women, and the Microbe in American Life (Harvard University Press, 1998) and Remaking the American Patient: How Madison Avenue and Modern Medicine Turned Patients Into Consumers (University of North Carolina Press, 2015). Professor Tomes is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Kentucky. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Pennsylvania.