Twenty-One Women Faculty Members Taking on New Assignments

Beth Campbell has been appointed chair of the department of curriculum and instruction in the Reich College of Education at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. She was an associate professor and program director of elementary and secondary education at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia.

Dr. Campbell holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and U.S. history from the State University of New York, a master’s degree in folklore from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. in English composition from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Karin Reinisch has been appointed the Jean and David W. Wallace Professor of Cell Biology at Yale University. She has been a faculty member at Yale since 2001 and also serves as the director of graduate studies.

Dr. Reinisch holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Harvard University.

Jennifer Ng has been appointed director of academic inclusion in the Office of Diversity and Equity at the University of Kansas. She is an associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies and has worked for the university since 2004.

Dr. Ng holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Iowa and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Emily Baker has been named assistant professor of architecture at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas. She was previously a professor at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Baker holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Arkansas and a master’s degree in architecture from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Roberta Waite, has been named executive director of the Stephen and Sandra Sheller 11th Street Family Health Services Center at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has been involved with the center since 2005 and currently serves as an associate professor.

Dr. Waite received a bachelor’s degree in nursing and an educational doctorate from Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in adult psychiatric mental health nursing from the University of Pennsylvania.

Devoney Looser, has been named a Foundation Professor at Arizona State University. She has been a professor of English at the university since 2013 and has previously taught at the University of Missouri.

Dr. Looser is a summa cum laude graduate of Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she majored in English. She holds a Ph.D. in English with a certification in women’s studies from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She is the author of The Making of Jane Austen (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017).

Mari Castaneda has been named to the newly created position of associate dean for equity and inclusion at the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is currently a professor and chair of the department of communication.

Dr. Castaneda, holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Ph.D. in communication from the University of California, San Diego.

Clare Rimnac has been named a Distinguished University Professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. She is the Wilbert J. Austin Professor of Engineering in the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Dr. Rimnac earned a bachelor’s degree in metallurgy and materials science from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in metallurgy and materials engineering from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Cristina Bradatan has been appointed chair of the department of sociology, anthropology, and social work at Texas Tech University. She is an associate professor of sociology and a faculty member in the Texas Tech Climate Science Center.

Dr. Bradatan holds two master’s degrees, one in mathematical statistics and probability and the other in sociology, from the University of Bucharest in Romania and a Ph.D. in sociology and demography from Pennsylvania State University.

Joellen Edwards has been named chair of the department of nursing systems at the University of Central Florida. She is a professor and holds the Hugh F. and Jeannette McKean Endowed Chair in the College of Nursing. She has served as interim chair since October 2017.

Dr. Edwards received a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a doctorate in health care administration from Ohio University and a master’s degree in nursing from West Virginia University.

Barbara Muller-Borer has been appointed the chair of the department of engineering at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. She has been an associate professor in this department since 2012 and an ECU faculty member since 2004.

Dr. Muller-Borer holds a bachelor’s degree from the Tufts University School of Engineering and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Erika Augustine has been named the Robert J. Joynt Professor in Neurology at the University of Rochester. She will retain her joint appointments as associate professor of pediatrics and associate professor in the Center for Health and Technology.

Dr. Augustine holds a bachelor’s degree in biological anthropology from Harvard University and a medical doctorate from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Fumiko Hoeft has been named the director of the Brain Imaging Research Center in the College of Liberal Arts and Science at the University of Connecticut. She comes to the University of Connecticut from the University of California, San Francisco where she was a professor of psychiatry, director of the Hoeft Laboratory for Neuroscience, and deputy director of the Dyslexia Center.

Dr. Hoeft received her medical degree and a Ph.D. in neurophysiology from Keio University in Tokyo, Japan.

Maria-Alina Asavei has been named the first faculty fellow in the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University in New York. She was previously a lecturer at Charles University’s Institute of International Studies in Prague.

Dr. Asavei holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s degree in comparative literature and cultural anthropology from the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Romania, a master’s degree in cultural history and a Ph.D. in aesthetics and philosophy of art from Central European University in Budapest.

Joon Choi has been selected to serve on the Georgia Commission of Family Violence. She is an associate professor at the University of Georgia School of Social Work.

Dr. Choi earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea, a master’s degree in international relations from the City University of New York, a master of social work degree from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in social work from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Christina Higgins has been named co-editor of Applied Linguistics, a prestigious peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press. She is a professor in the department of second language studies at the University of Hawaii Manoa.

Dr. Higgins earned two bachelor’s degree, one in English, linguistics, and speech and the other in American studies, from what is now the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She holds a master’s degree in linguistics and a Ph.D. in English language and linguistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Zoe Higheagle Strong has been appointed executive director of tribal relations and special assistant to the provost at Washington State University. Additionally, she will serve as director of the Plateau Center for Native American Research and Collaborations while retaining her position as assistant professor of educational psychology in the College of Education.

Dr. Strong holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Seattle Pacific University and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Washington.

Rachel Mayo, a breast cancer survivor, has been appointed to the Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer in Young Women at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. She is currently a public health science professor and researcher at Clemson University in South Carolina.

Dr. Mayo earned a bachelor’s degree in natural science and a master’s degree in microbiology from the University of Arkansas, and a Ph.D. in health promotion and education at the University of South Carolina.

Brooke Vick has been appointed associate provost for faculty and diversity initiatives at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She was a professor of psychology at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington.

Dr. Vick is a graduate of Colorado College where she majored in psychology with a minor in women’s studies. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Wendy R. Sherman, has been named professor of the practice of public leadership and the director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, effective in January 2019. She was formerly the undersecretary of state for political affairs at the United States Department of State from 2011 to 2015.

Professor Sherman holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a master of social work degree from the University of Maryland. She is the author of Not for the Faint of Heart: Lessons in Courage, Power, and Persistence (PublicAffairs, 2018).

Kiron Skinner has been appointed senior policy advisor to United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and director of policy planning in the State Department. She is the Taube Professor of International Relations and Politics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Skinner holds a bachelor’s degree from Spelman College in Atlanta, a bachelor’s degree from Sacramento City College, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science and international relations from Harvard University.