New Faculty Assignments at Colleges and Universities for Six Woman Scholars

Yara González-Justiniano was named assistant professor of religion, psychology, and culture at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville. Dr. González-Justiniano has served as the national director of the Raíces Latinas Leadership Institute. Most recently, she was a visiting assistant professor in practical theology and community engagement at the Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.

Dr. González-Justiniano is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico. She holds a master of divinity degree and a doctorate in theology from the Boston University School of Theology.

Emily A. Gasser was promoted to associate professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. Before joining the faculty at Swarthmore College. Dr. Gasser conducted postdoctoral research at the Center for Endangered Languages Documentation at the  Universitas Negeri Papua, in Manokwari, Indonesia. She began teaching at Swarthmore in 2014 as a visiting assistant professor.

Dr. Gasser is a 2007 graduate of Swarthmore College. She holds two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. in linguistics from Yale University.

Anna Storti will join the department of gender, sexuality, and feminist studies at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, this fall as an assistant professor. Currently, she is a postdoctoral fellow at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Dr. Storti’s research focuses on Asian American art and culture from the late 19th century to the present. She holds a Ph.D. in women’s studies from the University of Maryland College Park.

Grace Marie Bochenek was appointed director of the School of Modeling, Simulation, and Training at the University of Central Florida. She was the director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh. Earlier, she served as director of the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center and was the chief technology officer of the U.S. Army Materiel Command.

Dr. Bochenek earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at Wayne State University in Detroit. She holds a master’s degree in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Michigan–Dearborn and a  Ph.D. in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Central Florida.

Amy Wendt, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is taking on the additional duties of associate vice chancellor for research in the physical sciences. She has served in the position on an interim basis since August 2019.

Dr. Wendt joined the faculty at the university in 1990. She earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California, Berkeley

Jessica Kastler has been named director of Marine Education Center of the Univerity of Southern Mississippi in Ocean Springs. Dr. Kastler has been serving as the center’s interim director since last spring. She has been employed by the university since 2007.

A New Orleans native, Dr. Kastler holds a bachelor’s degree in geology and a Ph.D. in oceanography and coastal sciences from Louisiana State University. She also earned a master’s degree in environmental sciences from the University of Virginia.