Seven Women Named to Endowed Chairs at Major Universities

Joann B. Sweasy was named the Ensign Professor of Therapeutic Radiology at Yale University. She is an expert in the genetics, cell biology, and biochemistry of DNA repair and cancer. She joined the faculty at Yale in 1993.

Dr. Sweasy is a graduate of what is now Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania. She earned a Ph.D. in microbiology at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Michelle M. Dowd was appointed the Hudson Strode Professor of English at the University of Alabama. In this role she will serve as director of the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies at the university. She previously served on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Professor Dowd is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Rochester in New York. She holds two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in New York City.

Mary D. Barkley, chair of the department of chemistry at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, was named the M. Roger Clapp University Professor of Arts and Sciences at the university. Her research focuses on HIV. Professor Barkley joined the faculty at the university in 1993.

Professor Barkley earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of California, San Diego and conducted postdoctoral research at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California.

Sheri Wilmer was appointed the Rev. J. Donald Monan, S.J. Professor in Theatre Arts at Boston College. Professor Wilmer is the author of more than 20 plays including the recent musical “Cake Off.” She has taught at Florida State University and Vanderbilt University.

Professor Wilmer is a graduate of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where she majored in English. She holds a master of fine arts degree from Columbia University.

Sandra Thomas was named the inaugural Sara and Ross Croley Endowed Professor in Nursing at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. She is a professor and chair of the Ph.D. program in nursing at the university. Professor Thomas joined the faculty in the College of Nursing in 1983. She is the editor of the journal Issues in Mental Health Nursing.

Professor Thomas holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in education and a master’s degree in nursing.

Julie Battilana is the new Alan L. Gietsman Professor of Social Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She will also serve as faculty chair of the New World Social Enterprise Fellows Program. Professor Battilana holds a joint appointment as a professor of organizational behavior at Harvard Business School.

A native of France, Professor Battilana holds a bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees, and a Ph.D. from Ecole Normale Superieure de Cachan.

Annette Giesecke was appointed the Elias Ajuja Professor of Classics at the University of Delaware. She is a professor in the department of languages, literatures, and cultures.

Professor Giesecke is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles. She received a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in classics from Harvard University.