A Trio of Women Scholars Named to Endowed Professorships

Wenjing Lou, a professor of computer science, was appointed the W.C. English Professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She is based at the university’s Northern Virginia Center in Falls Church.

Professor Lou joined the faculty at Virginia Tech in 2011. She is an expert in computer and network security. Dr. Lou holds a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Florida.

Nancy S. Koven is the inaugural holder of the John E. Kelsey Professorship in Neuroscience at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Professor Kelsey served on the faculty at Bates College for 37 years. The chair was made possible by a gift from Michael and Alison Bonney who both graduated from Bates College in 1980.

Professor Koven is a graduate of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois.

Ekaterine Heldwein was named the American Cancer Society Professor of Molecular Biology at the Tufts University School of Medicine in Massachusetts. She joined the faculty at Tufts in 2006 as an assistant professor of molecular biology and microbiology. Her research is focused on the herpes virus.

Professor Heldwein received a Ph.D. from the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. She then conducted postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School.