New Assignments in Higher Education for Eight Women Faculty Members

Linda Bastone, an associate professor of psychology at the State University of New York-Purchase was appointed associate provost for faculty affairs at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Her research interests include the causes and consequences of stereotyping and prejudice as well as factors that promote the academic success and engagement of underrepresented students.

Dr. Bastone is a graduate of Binghamton University in New York, where she majored in psychology and philosophy. She earned a Ph.D. in social/personality psychology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Paula Hammond has been appointed an Institute Professor, the highest honor bestowed upon faculty members at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a professor and chair of the department of chemical engineering at MIT. She is the first woman and the first African American to hold the post.

Professor Hammond holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a Ph.D. from MIT. Dr. Hammond earned a master’s degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Kirsten Martin, the William P. and Hazel B. White Center Professor of Technology Ethics at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, has been appointed director of the university’s Technology Ethics Center. She joined the faculty at the university in 2020.

Dr. Martin earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Michigan. She holds an MBA and doctoral degree from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

On July 1, Chanita Hughes-Halbert will join the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Southern California as associate director for cancer equity, a newly created position. She will also join the faculty at the university’s Keck School of Medicine as a professor and vice chair of research in the department of preventive medicine. She has been serving as a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, co-leader of the Cancer Control Program, holder of the AT&T Distinguished Endowed Chair at the Hollings Cancer Center, and associate dean for assessment, evaluation, and quality improvement at the College of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Dr. Hughes-Halbert is a summa cum laude graduate of Hampton University in Virginia. She holds master’s and doctoral degrees from Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Carla Staver was appointed associate director of the Institute for Biospheric Studies at Yale University, She is an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who has taught at Yale since 2014. Her research focuses on the ecology of tropical grassy ecosystems.

Dr. Staver is a graduate of Columbia University in New York City. She holds a master’s degree in botany from the University of Cape Town in South Africa and a Ph.D. in ecology and environmental biology from Princeton Univerity in New Jersey.

Shayna Stahl was appointed to a faculty position as director of athletic bands and assistant director of bands in the School of Music at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Stahl will be the first woman to serve as the director of the Wildcat Marching Band. She previously served as associate director of bands and director of athletic bands at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Dr. Stahl holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Temple University in Philadelphia. She earned a master’s degree in liberal studies from Stony Brook University in New York, a master’s degree in music education/wind band conducting from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, and a doctoral degree in instrumental conducting from the University of Washington.

Stephanie Luster-Teasley, professor and chair of the department of civil, architectural, and environmental engineering at North Carolina A&T State University, has been assigned the additional duties of vice provost for undergraduate education. She joined the faculty at the university in 2004.

After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at North Carolina A&T State University, Dr. Luster-Teasley earned a master’s degree in chemical engineering and a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Michigan State University.

Becky Barlow, extension specialist and professor of forestry and wildlife sciences at Auburn University in Alabama, has been named the interim associate dean for extension and interim assistant director for agriculture, forestry, and natural resource extension programs in the College of Agriculture. Dr. Barlow came to Auburn as an assistant professor in 2007 and was named an associate professor in 2012 and full professor in 2018.

Dr. Barlow holds a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture, a master’s degree in forestry, and a Ph.D. in forest management, all from Mississippi State University.