Four Women Appointed to Named Professorships

Michelle Miller was appointed the Rev. J. Donald Monan, S.J. Professor in Theatre Arts at Boston College. Miller is the founder of Any Minute Now Productions in New York City. She is an accomplished vocalist, actress, educator, and filmmaker.

Miller graduated from Boston College in 1998 with a double major in theater and philosophy, with a minor in theology.

Patricia L. Vahle was named the Mansfield Associate Professor of Physics at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Dr. Vahle’s research focuses on the study of neutrinos. Dr. Vahle joined the faculty at the college in 2007 after teaching at University College London.

Dr. Vahle earned a Ph.D. in physics at the University of Texas at Austin.

Diann Williams was named the first holder of the Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield Endowed Nursing Professorship in Rural Health at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. She was the vice president for assessment and nursing and allied health at Southeast Arkansas College in Pine Bluff.

Professor Williams is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and holds a master’s degree in nursing from Saint Louis University.

Katie Plax is the new Ferring Family Chair in Pediatrics at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She is a professor of pediatrics and director of the Division of Adolescent Medicine at the medical school. She has been on the medical school’s faculty since 2000.

Professor Plax is a graduate of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She earned her medical degree at the University of Rochester in New York.