Four Women Who Have Been Appointed to Endowed Chairs at Major Universities

Yelena Yesha is the inaugural Knight Chair in the Institute for Data Science and Computing at the University of Miami in Florida. Before coming to the University of Miami in 2020, she was the first woman faculty member in the computer science department at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

A native of Ukraine, Dr. Yesha holds bachelor’s degrees in computer science and applied mathematics from York University in Ontario. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. at Ohio State University.

Elyshia Aseltine, an associate professor in the department of sociology, anthropology, and criminal justice at Towson University in Maryland, was named to the Martha A. Mitten Professorship at the university. The Mitten professorship emphasizes effective teaching, productive scholarship. and impactful contributions to student experiences. Dr. Aseltine joined the faculty at Towson University in 2012.

Dr. Aseltine is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego, where she majored in sociology and African studies. She holds a master’s degree in African studies from the University of California, Los Angeles and a second master’s degree in sociology from California State University. Dr. Aseltine earned a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin.

Willemien Otten has been named the Dorothy Grant Maclear Professor in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. Dr. Otten is the director of the Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion at the University of Chicago and one of the editors of the Journal of Religion. She is the author of several books including Thinking Nature and the Nature of Thinking: From Eriugena to Emerson (Stanford University Press, 2020).

Professor Otten earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. at the University of Amsterdam.

Srividya Ramasubramanian was named the Newhouse Professor at the School of Communication at Syracuse University in New York. She is the first woman to hold the chair since it was established in 1964. Professor Ramasubramanian comes to Syracuse from Texas A&M University, where she served as a Presidential Impact Fellow and professor of communication. She also was associate dean of liberal arts.

Professor Ramasubramanian is a graduate of the University of Madras in India. She holds a master’s degree in communication management from the Mudra Institute of Communication in India and a Ph.D. in communication from Pennsylvania State University.