New Assignments for Six Women Faculty Members at Major Universities

Maria Yang, the Gail E. Kendall Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was appointed associate dean for undergraduate and graduate academic programming at MIT’s School of Engineering. Professor Yang joined the faculty at MIT in 2007.

Dr. Yang graduated from MIT with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1991. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the mechanical engineering department’s design division at Stanford University.

Sarah Evanega was appointed a professor at the Boyce Thompson Institute, an independent, nonprofit organization affiliated with Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She was a research professor in the department of global development and the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University.

Dr. Evanega is a graduate of Reed College in Portland, Oregon, where she majored in biology. She holds a Ph.D. in plant biology from Cornell University.

Allison Leggett, a veteran in instruction and educational leadership, has been appointed as director of teacher education programs for the University of California, Los Angeles Extension. She was a program administrator for educational programs at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Leggett is a graduate of UCLA, where she majored in chemistry. She holds master’s degrees in education and early childhood psychology from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and a doctorate in education from the University of Phoenix.

Joanna York, an associate professor in the School of Marine Science and Policy in the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, is the new director of Delaware Sea Grant, which actively funds scientific researchers to better understand the natural marine environment and local coastal economies.

Dr. York is a graduate of the University of Virginia, where she majored in environmental science. She holds a Ph.D. in marine ecology from Boston University.

Nandi A. Marshall has been appointed associate dean of academic affairs for Georgia Southern University’s Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health. She is is an associate professor in the department of health policy and community health.

Dr. Marshall holds a bachelor’s from Spelman College in Atlanta. She earned a master of public health degree from East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania and a doctorate in public health from Georgia Southern University.

Eleanor Sterling has been appointed as the director of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Institute of Marine Biology in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. She will join the faculty on January 3, 2022. Dr. Sterling is currently the Jaffe Chief Conservation Scientist at the American Museum of Natural History’s Center for Biodiversity and Conservation.

Dr. Sterling holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, all from Yale University.