Four Women Scholars Named to Endowed Professorships at Colleges and Universities

Regina Taylor was named to the Denzel Washington Endowed Chair in Theatre at Fordham University in New York. Professor Taylor is an awarding-winning actress, playwright, and director.

At Fordham, Taylor will direct a student production of her 2009 play Magnolia, an adaption of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard.

Karen Brewer was named the Silas D. Childs Professor of Agricultural Chemistry at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. She joined the faculty at the college in 1989 and was promoted to full professor of inorganic chemistry in 2005.

Professor Brewer is a graduate of Ohio Northern University in Ada. She holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Erin Baker was appointed the John A. and Elizabeth S. Armstrong Professional Development Professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is a professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at the university. Professor Baker serves as the director of the university’s Offshore Wind Energy Program and the Energy, Environment and Economic Decision-Making Lab.

Professor Baker joined the faculty at the university in 2002. She holds a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley and a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in engineering economic systems and operations research from Stanford University.

Ellen MacKenzie was named a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. She will continue to teach and conduct research at the university’s School of Public Health but also become more involved at the university’s School of Medicine.

Professor MacKenzie is a graduate of Rutgers University in New Jersey. She holds a Ph.D. in biostatistics from Johns Hopkins University.