Five Women Appointed to Named Chairs at the University of Chicago

Wendy Freedman was named the John and Marion Sullivan University Professor in the department of astronomy and astrophysics. She is an expert on dark matter and her research focuses on measuring the expansion of the university. Dr. Freedman joined the faculty in 2014. Previously, she was the Crawford H. Greenewalt Director of the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Pasadena, California. Professor Freedman received bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of Toronto.

Deborah Gorman-Smith was appointed the Emily Klein Gidwitz Professor in the School of Social Service Administration. She also serves as the director of the Chicago Center for Youth Violence Prevention. Professor Gorman-Smith joined the faculty at the university in 2012. Dr. Gorman-Smith received a Ph.D. in clinical-developmental psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Melina Hale was named the William Rainey Harper Professor in the Division of Biological Sciences. She has been serving as a professor of organismal biology and anatomy. Her research focuses on neural circuits as they relate to movement. Dr. Hale joined the faculty at the University of Chicago in 2002. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago.

Alison LaCroix was appointed the Robert Newman Reid Professor at the University of Chicago Law School. She is the author of The Ideological Origins of American Federalism (Harvard University Press, 2010) and co-editor of Subversion and Sympathy: Gender, Law, and British Novel (Oxford University Press, 2013). A member of the university’s faculty since 2006, Professor LaCroix holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a law degree from Yale University. She also earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in history at Harvard University.

Wendy Stock is the inaugural Anjuli Seth Nayak Professor in the department of medicine at the university. Her research concerns leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes. Dr. Stock joined the faculty at the University of Chicago in 2000. She earned her medical degree at the Rush University Medical College in Chicago.