Five Women Faculty Members Who Are Taking on New Duties at Universities

Madhavi Kadakia has been appointed vice provost for research and innovation at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. She has served as interim vice provost for research since July 1. Dr. Kadakia has served as chair of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at the university since 2015 and as associate dean of research affairs of the Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine since 2019. She joined the Wright State faculty in 2002.

Dr. Kadakia holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in microbiology from the University of Mumbai in India. She earned a Ph.D. in infectious disease and microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Carla Schwan was hired as an assistant professor and as the cooperative extension specialist in food safety and home food preservation in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Georgia. She will also be serving as director of the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Dr. Schwan was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Food Science Institute at Kansas State University, where she also completed her master’s and doctorate degrees in the area of food safety and prevention of foodborne illness.

Katherine Ankerson has been named the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s next executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. Professor Ankerson has served as dean of the College of Architecture at the university since July 2016. She was previously a professor and the head of interior architecture and product design programs at Kansas State University.

Dean Ankerson received her bachelor of architecture degree and a master’s degree in architecture from Washington State University.

Theresa Pietsch is the new dean of its School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Neumann University in Aston, Pennsylvania. Dr. Pietsch joined the faculty at the nursing school in 2008. She has served as the associate dean of nursing since 2016.

Dr. Pietsch holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Delaware. She earned a master’s degree in nursing administration and a doctorate from Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Diane Bailey, the Geri Gay Professor of Communication at Cornell University, has been given the added duties of director of the Cornell Institute for Digital Agriculture. Before joining the Cornell faculty in 2019, Dr. Bailey taught at the University of Texas at Austin, Stanford University, and the University of Southern California.

Dr. Bailey holds a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and operations research from the University of California, Berkeley.