Three Women Named to Endowed Professorships at Northwestern University

Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, recently announced the appointment of five faculty members to endowed professorships. Three of these five appointments went to women.

Jian Cao. a professor of mechanical engineering, associate vice president for research, and director of the Northwestern Initiative for Manufacturing Science and Innovation, was appointed to the Cardiss Collins Professorship. Professor Cao is a graduate of Shanghai JiaoTong University in China, where she majored in material science and engineering. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Emily A. Weiss, a professor of chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences was named to the Dow Chemical Company Research Professorship. Her research is focused on the mechanisms by which energy is converted from one form to another within inorganic nanostructures. Dr. Weiss is a 2000 graduate of Princeton University in New Jersey. She holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

Michelle M. Wright, a professor of African American studies and comparative literary studies was appointed to the Kay Davis Professorship. She is the author of several books including Physics of Blackness: Beyond the Middle Passage Epistemology (University of Minnesota Press, 2015). Professor Wright is a 1992 graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio. She holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Michigan.