New Duties for Eight Women Scholars in Academia

Sunčica Čanić has been named a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. She also serves as a research professor at the University of Houston.

Dr. Čanić holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from the University of Zagreb in Croatia and a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Stony Brook University in New York.

Vanessa Simonds has been appointed to the National Academies of Sciences’ Roundtable on Health Literacy. She is an assistant professor of community health at Montana State University.

Dr. Simonds holds a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science from Montana State University, and a master’s degree in epidemiology and a doctorate in public health intervention design for social change both from the School of Public Health at Harvard University.

Angela Anderson has been named assistant professor of human nutrition, foods, and exercise in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech. She was a visiting assistant professor at Colorado College.

Dr. Anderson holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and psychology with a minor in chemistry from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, and Ph.D. in metabolism from Virginia Tech.

Debra B. Jackson has been named director of the Emeritus College at Clemson University in South Carolina. She currently serves as a professor emerita of nursing. She was vice provost of academic affairs and assistant to the president before retiring in January 2017.

Dr. Jackson holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the Medical University of South Carolina, a master’s degree in nursing from Emory University in Atlanta, and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Georgia State University.

Madhavi Kadakia has been named associate dean for research affairs at the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. She currently serves as a professor and chair of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology.

Dr. Kadakia holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in microbiology from the University of Mumbai in India, and a Ph.D. in infectious diseases and microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Carol Zuegner has been named the inaugural holder of the Joella Cohen Endowed Chair in Journalism at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. She has been a Creighton faculty member since 1997.

Dr. Zuegner holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Creighton University, a master’s degree in journalism from Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. in communication and journalism from the University of Tennessee.

Valeria Luiselli has been named writer in residence at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. She is the author of multiple books including Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions (Coffee House Press, 2017) and the novel Lost Children Archive (Alfred A. Knopf, 2019).

Dr. Luiselli holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Columbia University.

Keisha Blain has been named editor-in-chief of The North Star. The original North Star was published by Frederick Douglass in 1847. The revival will be published online. Dr. Blain currently teaches history at the University of Pittsburgh. She is the author of Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018).

Dr. Blain holds a bachelor’s degree in history and Africana studies from Binghamton University in New York and a Ph.D. in history from Princeton University in New Jersey.