New Duties or Posts for 14 Women Faculty Members

Kathleen Bieschke, a professor of counseling psychology at Pennsylvania State University, has been given the added duties as vice provost for faculty affairs. She was serving as dean of the Schreyer Honors College.

Dr. Bieschke holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Illinois State University. She earned a doctorate in counseling psychology at Michigan State University.

Lael Keiser, professor of public policy and administration at the University of Missouri, was appointed director of the Harry S Truman School of Public Affairs at the university. Professor Keiser joined the faculty at the university in 1996 as an assistant professor of political science.

Dr. Keiser is a graduate of Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, a professor of human development and social policy in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, was appointed director of the university’s Institute for Policy Research. Her research focuses on economic issues relating to education and child poverty.

Dr. Schanzenbach is a magna cum laude graduate of Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she majored in economics and religion. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University.

John Hopkins University has announced that danah bella will chair its new bachelor of fine arts degree program in dance. The program will begin to accept students for the 2018-19 academic year. The founder and artistic director of danah bella Dance Works, bella is the former chair of the dance program at Radford University in Virginia.

A graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, bella earned a master’s degree in performance at Ohio State University.

Jane Kent, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Massachusetts, was named chair of the department of kinesiology. Dr. Kent has served on the faculty at the university for 17 years.

Professor Kent holds bachelor’s and master’s degree from California State University, Long Beach. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of Southern California.

Rachel L. Waddell was appointed director of orchestral activities at the University of Rochester. She was the associate director of the Canton Symphony Orchestra in Ohio.

Dr. Waddell is a graduate of the University of Hartford in Connecticut, where she majored in music composition. She holds a master’s degree in orchestra conducting from Northern Arizona University and a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Jennifer Pintar, professor and chair of the department of kinesiology and sports science at Youngstown State University in Ohio, has been given the added duties of associate provost for academic administration. Professor Pintar joined the faculty at the university in 1999.

Dr. Pintar is a graduate of Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, where she majored in biology. She holds a master’s degree in exercise physiology, a master of public health degree, and a Ph.D. in exercise physiology, all from the University of Pittsburgh.

Mariana G. Figueiro, a professor of architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, has been given the added duty as director of the Lighting Research Center at the university.

Dr. Figueiro is a graduate of the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Florence Lyons, a professor of speech at Albany State University in Georgia, was named director of the university’s Honors Program.

Dr. Lyons is a graduate of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She earned a master’s degree from Oklahoma City University and a Ph.D. in theatre criticism from Louisiana State University.

JoAnn DellaNeva, professor of Romance languages and literatures at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, has been given the added responsibilities of academic director of the London Global Gateway. Professor DellaNeva joined the faculty at the university since 1982.

Dr. DellaNeva is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Princeton University.

Stefani Spranger was appointed assistant professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research is focused on cancer and immune cells.

Dr. Spranger earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany. She holds a Ph.D. from Helmholtz-Zentrum Munich.

Esperanza Spalding was named a professor of practice in the music department at Harvard University. She will teach at Harvard during the spring 2018 semester. A bassist, singer, and songwriter, she has won four Grammy Awards.

Spalding is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston and later served as an instructor at the college.

Desiree Plata was named the John J. Lee Assistant Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at Yale University. She joined the faculty at Yale in 2014 after teaching at Mount Holyoke College and Duke University.

Dr. Plata is a graduate of Union College in Schenectady, New York. She earned a Ph.D. in a joint program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Catherine Fuchs was appointed to the faculty in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Since 2012, she has been serving as director of the university’s Psychological and Counseling Center.

Dr. Fuchs holds a bachelor’s degree and a medical degree from Vanderbilt University.