Nine Women Faculty Members Who Are Assuming New Roles in Academia

Sarah J. Williams has been named an assistant professor of law at Pennsylvania State University’s Dickinson Law School. She previously served as deputy director and associate director for the Division of Registration and Inspections, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in Washington, D.C.

Professor Williams holds a juris doctorate from the New York University School of Law.

Sheryl Kennedy Haydel was appointed assistant professor in the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. She previously taught at Xavier University in New Orleans and was director of communications and marketing at Dillard University in New Orleans.

Dr. Haydel is a graduate of Clark Atlanta Univerity, where she majored in print journalism. She holds a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in marketing from the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Haydel earned her Ph.D. in mass communication and journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Emily Torstveit Ngara has been named a clinical assistant professor and director of the Immigration Law Clinic at the Georgia State University College of Law. She previously served as the director of the Deportation Defense Clinic at Hofstra University in New York.

Professor Ngara is a graduate of the University of Washington where she majored in marketing and Norwegian language and literature. She holds a juris doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and a master of laws degree in clinical education, social justice, and systems from the University of the District of Columbia.

Angela MacAdams has been named director of the allied sciences department in the College of Health Professions at North Dakota State University. For the past 11 years, she has been serving as director of clinical education for the NDSU/Sanford Respiratory Care Program.

MacAdams holds a bachelor’s degree in respiratory care and a master’s degree in education with an emphasis on curriculum and instruction both from North Dakota State University.

Olga Davis has been named associate dean of the Honors College at Arizona State University’s Downtown Phoenix campus. She currently serves as a professor in the university’s Hugh Downs School of Human Communication and as a research affiliate of Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Davis is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Redlands in California, where she majored in business and finance. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in communication studies from the University of Nebraska.

Celestina Barbosa-Leiker has been named vice chancellor for research for Washington State University Health Sciences. She currently serves as an associate professor, associate dean for research, and interim executive associate dean in the university’s College of Nursing.

Dr. Barbosa-Leiker is a graduate of Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts, where she majored in psychology. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. both in experimental psychology from Washington State University.

Diana Diaz has been named a clinical assistant professor in the computer science department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is currently an instructor at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Dr. Diaz holds a master’s degree in computer science and a Ph.D. in computer science, bioinformatics, and health informatics both from Wayne State University.

Mary B. “Mimi” Munn has been named professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. She previously served as an associate professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology in the division of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

Dr. Munn is a graduate of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. She earned a medical doctorate at Tulane University.

Monique L. Akassi has been named assistant to the president and professor of English at Talladega College in Alabama. She previously served as associate provost for faculty affairs at Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida.

Dr. Akassi is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati where she majored in English and comparative literature. She holds a master’s degree in English composition and rhetoric from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio and a Ph.D. in English composition and rhetoric with minors in literary criticism theory and African American literature from Morgan State University in Baltimore.