New Assignments for 10 Women Faculty Members

Barbara D. Savage, chair of the department of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, was appointed the Harmsworth Visiting Professor of American History at the University of Oxford in England. The professorship was established in 1922.

Professor Savage is the author of the book Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion (Harvard University Press, 2008). She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the Georgetown University Law Center. Dr. Savage also holds a Ph.D. in history from Yale University.

Kate Burton will join the faculty of the School of Dramatic Arts at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles as a professor and master artist. Burton has won three Emmy Awards and was nominated for three Tony Awards. She is currently appearing on Broadway in the comedy “Present Laughter.”

Burton will begin teaching undergraduate and graduate courses this coming fall. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Russian studies and European history from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and a master of fine arts degree in acting from Yale Drama School.

Jessica Leahy was promoted to full professor of human dimensions of natural resources at the University of Maine. Her research examines environmental attitudes and behaviors towards forests, forestry, and other natural resource management topics using a social psychology and communication approach.

Dr. Leahy holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Oregon State University. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota.

Amy Hungerford was appointed the Bird White Housum Professor of English at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Professor Hungerford joined the faculty at Yale in 1999. She is the author of Making Literature Now (Stanford University Press, 2016).

Dr. Hungerford holds a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a Ph.D., all from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Jennifer Case will be the next chair of the department of engineering education at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. Currently, Professor Case is on the faculty of the department of chemical engineering at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. She has been on the faculty there since 1996 and was promoted to full professor in 2012.

Dr. Case is a graduate of Stellenbosch University in South Africa. She holds master’s degrees from the University of Leeds in English and the University of Cape Town. Professor Case earned a Ph.D. at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

Alison Hawthorne Deming was named a Regents Professor at the University of Arizona. She is a professor of English. She is the author of five books of poetry and four books of nonfiction, including Zoologies: On Animals and the Human Spirit (Milkweed Editions, 2014).

Professor Deming is a great-granddaughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne. She holds a master of fine arts degree from Vermont College.

Todne Thomas was appointed an assistant professor of African American religions at Harvard Divinity School, effective July 1. She will also serve as a Suzanne Young Murray Assistant Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard. She has been serving as an assistant professor of religion at the University of Vermont.

Dr. Thomas is a graduate of Cornell University, where she majored in anthropology and Africana studies. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in sociocultural anthropology from the University of Virginia.

Karen Oberhauser, a professor in the department of fisheries, wildlife, and conservation biology at the University of Minnesota, will be the next director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum. She will begin her new job on October 1. Dr. Oberhauser is an expert on the monarch butterfly.

Professor Oberhauser holds bachelor’s degrees from Harvard University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She earned a Ph.D. in ecology and behavioral biology from the University of Minnesota.

Elizabeth Sharp, associate professor of human development and family studies at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, has been given the added duties as interim vice president for the Division of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement.

Dr. Sharp is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she majored in individual and family studies. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in human development and family studies from the University of Missouri.

Sandra Crewe , a tenured professor and dean of the School of Social Work at Howard University in Washington, D.C., was appointed to the board of directors of the National Association of Deans and Directors.

Dr. Crewe joined the faculty at Howard University in 1997 and was named dean in 2015. She holds a bachelor’s degree and a master of social work degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Dr. Crewe was the first individual to earn a Ph.D. in social work at Howard University.