Three Women in STEM Fields Hired to Top Positions at Arizona State University

The Natural Sciences Division of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University has announced the appointment of three women to leadership positions. “We are eager to welcome these incredibly talented women to the college community,” said Nancy Gonzales, provost pro tempore and outgoing dean of natural sciences. “They are each highly accomplished scholars with strong track records as leaders in their respective disciplines. They will help us advance our mission of inclusive excellence in research while leading innovative approaches to educate the next generation of leaders in science and math.”

Donatella Danielli was named the director of the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences. Dr. Danielli joins the college after working as a professor of mathematics at Purdue University for nearly 20 years. Her research is in the areas of partial differential equations, calculus of variations, and geometric measure theory, with specific emphasis on free boundary problems arising from physics and engineering. Dr. Danielli received a degree in mathematics from the University of Bologna in Italy in 1989. She earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Tijana Rajh was appointed the director of the School of Molecular Sciences. She has been serving as a senior scientist and an Argonne Distinguished Fellow at the Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy research facility in Lemont, Illinois. Her research examines colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals and their integration with biomolecules. Dr. Rajh received a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Belgrade in Serbia. Her appointment as director of the School of Molecular Sciences begins July 1, 2021.

Patricia Rankin was named professor and chair of the department of physics at Arizona State University. She has been serving as a professor of physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. She has served as the associate dean for the natural sciences and associate vice chancellor for research positions at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Rankin was the principal investigator for the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE Institutional Transformation grant, a program with the goal to promote equity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. She holds a Ph.D. in physics from Imperial College London.