New Assignments for 10 Women Faculty Members at Major Universities

Ruth DeFries was named a University Professor at Columbia University in New York City. This is the highest faculty rank at the university. Dr. DeFries is the Denning Family Professor of Sustainable Development and co-director of the undergraduate program in sustainable development at the university’s Earth Institute.

Professor DeFries is a summa cum laude graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she majored in earth science. She earned a Ph.D. in geography and environmental engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Heather James, an associate professor of English at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, is the new president of Shakespeare Association of America. Dr. James is the author of Shakespeare’s Troy: Drama, Politics, and the Translation of Empire (Cambridge University Press, 1997).

Dr. James joined the faculty at the University of Southern California in 1995 after teaching at Yale University. She holds a master’s degree in Latin literature and a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of California, Berkeley.

Gena Bardwell, an assistant professor of communication at the New York School of Career and Applied Studies of the Touro College and University System, has been given the additional duty as interim director of the General Education Program.

Bardwell is a graduate of Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. She holds a master of fine arts degree from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Elizabeth Palacios, a lecturer in educational psychology at Baylor University, was named special assistant to president on diversity. She has been serving as dean for student development at Baylor.

Dr. Palacios holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in student personnel services from Baylor University. She holds a Ph.D. in school psychology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Kelly Musick, associate professor of policy analysis and management in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, has been given the additional responsibility as director of the Cornell Population Center. Dr. Musick joined the Cornell faculty in 2008 after teaching at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Musick is a graduate of Boston University, where she majored in economics and international relations. She holds a master of public affairs degree from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin.

Nancy C. Johnson, director of the Soil Ecology Lab at the Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, has been promoted to Regents Professor at the university. Professor Johnson joined the faculty at the university in 1977.

Professor Johnson is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Minnesota. She holds a master’s degree in botany from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Minnesota.

Susan Felder was named an assistant professor of acting and movement at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. For the past two years, she has taught movement and acting at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.

Felder is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University, where she majored in theatre arts. She earned a master of fine arts degree from the Academy for Classical Acting at George Washington University.

Janet Kistner, a professor of clinical and development psychology at Florida State University, was named vice president for faculty development and advancement at the university. She has served in the post on an interim basis since January 2015. Earlier, she was associate vice president for academic affairs.

Professor Kistner is a graduate of Rutgers University in New Jersey. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Binghamton University of the State University of New York System.

Jennifer Pietenpol, the B.F. Byrd Jr. Professor of Oncology at Vanderbilt University and the director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, has been given the added duties of the executive vice president for research at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Pietenpol joined the faculty at Vanderbilt in 1994.

Professor Pietenpol is a graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She holds a Ph.D. in cell biology from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Kathryn Lofton, a professor of religious studies at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, will be the next deputy dean for diversity and faculty development for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the university. Professor Lofton is the author of Oprah: The Gospel of an Icon (University of California Press, 2011).

Professor Lofton is a graduate of the University of Chicago. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.