New Assignments for 18 Women Scholars at Colleges and Universities

Maryam Farboodi has joined the faculty at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an assistant professor of finance. Since 2015, she has been an assistant professor of finance at Princeton University in New Jersey.

Dr. Farboodi is a graduate of the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran, where she majored in computer engineering. She holds master’s degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Farboodi earned a Ph.D. in financial economics from the University of Chicago.

Amy Robertson, an assistant professor of adult anesthesiology at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was given the added duties as vice chair for clinical affairs.

Dr. Robertson is a graduate of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she majored in nursing. She holds a medical degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Christina Davis Imai was appointed professor of government at Harvard University. She was a professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University. Dr. Imai is the author of Why Adjudicate? Enforcing Trade Rules in the WTO (Princeton University Press, 2012).

Professor Imai is a summa cum laude graduate of Harvard University, where she majored in East Asian studies. She earned a Ph.D. in political science at Harvard University.

Jennifer Doering was named associate dean of academic affairs for the College of Nursing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is an associate professor at the nursing school.

Dr. Doering is a graduate of the College of Nursing at the University of Minnesota. She earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in nursing at the University of Arizona.

Angela Huggins has joined the faculty at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina, as director of the Early Childhood Development and Literacy Center. The center will open in August and enroll about 120 children ages 3 to 5 and serve as a learning center for pre-service teachers in the university’s College of Education.

Dr. Huggins holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in early childhood education from Coastal Carolina University. She earned a second master’s degree in educational leadership and supervision at the University of South Carolina and a doctorate in educational leadership from Capella University.

Marilyn Flynn, a professor in the department of social change and innovation in the School of Social Work at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, was named special adviser in the Office of the Provost. She has served as dean of the School of Social Work for more than 20 years, but has stepped down from that post.

Professor Flynn is a graduate of Roosevelt University in Chicago. She holds a master of social work degree and a Ph.D. in social work from the University of Illinois.

Jennifer Jolly, an associate professor of gifted education at the University of Alabama, has been given the added duties of director of the Gifted Education and Talent Development Office at the university.

Before joining the faculty at the University of Alabama in 2017, Dr. Jolly was a senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales in Australia. Earlier, she taught at Louisiana State University. Dr. Jolly earned her Ph.D. at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

Sanyu Mojola was appointed professor of sociology at Princeton University. She was an associate professor of sociology at the University of Michigan. Earlier, Dr. Mojola taught for nine years at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is the author of Love, Money, and HIV: Becoming a Modern African Woman in the Age of AIDS (University of California Press, 2014).

Professor Mojola is a graduate of the University of Durham in England. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago.

Hillary A. Potter, an associate professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder, is taking on the added duties as the inaugural associate dean for inclusive practice in the College of Arts and Sciences at the university. She is the author of Intersectionality and Criminology: Disrupting and Revolutionizing Studies of Crime (Routledge, 2015) and Battle Cries: Black Women and Intimate Partner Abuse (New York University Press, 2008).

Dr. Potter holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Colorado. She also earned a master’s degree in criminal justice from John Jay College of the City University of New York.

Missy Pfohl Smith, director of the Program of Movement and Dance, was appointed director of the Institute for Performing Arts at the University of Rochester. She is a former assistant professor of dance at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York.

Smith is a graduate of the College at Brockport of the State University of New York System where she majored in dance. She holds a master of fine arts degree in choreography and performance from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York.

Margot Kushel, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, was given the added duties as director of the university’s Center for Vulnerable Populations. Her research focuses on the causes and consequences of homelessness.

Dr. Kushel is a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Medical School.

Tiffany A. Flowers was awarded tenure in the department of social sciences at Georgia State University Perimeter College. She joined the faculty at the educational institution in 2000.

Dr. Flowers received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in early childhood education from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. She also earned a master’s degree in social foundations of education and a doctoral degree in the Language, Literacy, and Culture program at the University of Iowa.

Shikha Nangia was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University in New York. She joined the chemical engineering faculty at the university in 2012.

Dr. Nangia is a graduate of the University of Delhi in India, where she majored in chemistry. She holds a master’s degree in chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Minnesota.

Jane Meza, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, was named the inaugural associate vice chancellor for global engagement at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She joined the faculty in 2000 and has been serving as interim associate vice chancellor for the past 18 months.

Dr. Meza holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, a master’s degree in statistics and a Ph.D. in statistics, all from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Tonya Peeples, who has been serving as a professor of chemical and biochemical engineering at the University of Iowa, was named associate dean for equity and inclusion at Pennsylvania State University. She will begin her new job on August 15.

Dr. Peeples is a graduate of North Carolina State University, where she majored in chemical engineering. She holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

Golbon Zakeri is a new associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She was an associate professor of engineering at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

Dr. Zakeri is a graduate of Iowa State University, where she majored in mathematics. She holds a Ph.D. in computer science and mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Kirsten Dellinger, professor and chair of the department of sociology and anthropology at the University of Mississippi, has been given the added duties of associate dean for diversity and inclusion for the College of Liberal Arts. Professor Dellinger has been on the faculty at the university since 1998.

Dr. Dellinger is a graduate of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Texas.

Kimya Dennis was named Distinguished Professor at Salem College in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She has been serving as an associate professor of sociology and criminal studies at the college. Dr. Dennis has taught at Salem College since 2010.

Professor Dennis is a graduate of the University of Richmond in Virginia. She holds a master’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University.