Four Women Promoted to Full Professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts

Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts has announced the promotion of four women to the rank of full professor.

Chrysanthe Demetry has been promoted to professor of mechanical engineering. She directs the university’s Morgan Teaching and Learning Center, and she co-founded Camp Reach, a summer program for girls. Her studies focus on education, teaching, and mentoring in STEM fields, especially as it pertains to girls and women. A faculty member since 1993, Professor Demetry earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at WPI and a Ph.D. in ceramics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Tanja Dominko was promoted to professor of biology and biotechnology. Her research is focused on regenerative medicine and wound healing. She studies the molecular mechanisms of cells, with a focus on restoring damaged tissues in the body. A faculty member since 2006, Dr. Dominko received a doctorate of veterinary medicine degree and a master’s degree in reproduction and obstetrics from the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. She earned a Ph.D. in endocrinology-reproductive physiology and did postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Anita Mattson was named a full professor of chemistry and biochemistry. She researches new methods in organic chemistry, the design of small molecules known as catalysts, and synthesis of bioactive molecules. Professor Mattson earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Northern Michigan University and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was an associate professor of chemistry at Ohio State University before joining the faculty at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2016.

Carolina Ruiz has been promoted to professor of computer science. Dr. Ruiz’s research is in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data mining, and their applications to medical domains including sleep, stroke, obesity, and cancer. Professor Ruiz is associate department head of computer science and is a founding and core member of the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Data Science, and Neuroscience programs. She joined the faculty at WPI in 1997. Dr. Ruiz earned bachelor’s degrees in computer science and mathematics and a master’s degree in computer science at the University of Los Andes in Colombia. She holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Maryland, College Park.