Universities Announced the Appointment of Four Women to Endowed Professorships

Erika Lee will be the inaugural Bae Family Professor of History at Harvard University, effective July 2023. She currently teaches American history at the University of Minnesota where she also serves as director of the school’s Immigration History Research Center. Professor Lee is the author of four books including America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States (Basic Books, 2019).

Dr. Lee is a graduate of Tufts University in Massachusetts. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley.

Aili Mari Tripp, an expert in politics and women’s movements in Africa and global feminism, has been named a Vilas Research Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Tripp joined the university’s faculty in 1992. Her research has focused on many aspects of women and gender in politics, particularly in Africa — women’s movements in Africa, transnational feminism, and African politics. She is the author of six books including Seeking Legitimacy: Why Arab Autocracies Adopt Women’s Rights (Cambridge University Press, 2019).

Professor Tripp holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Chicago. She earned a Ph.D. in political science at Northwestern University.

Chloe E. Bird was named the Sara Murray Jordan Professor at the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. She will also serve as director of the Center of Health Equity Research. Dr. Bird comes to Tufts from the Rand Corporation, where for the past 20 years she was senior sociologist and professor of sociology at the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

Professor Bird is a graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio, where she majored in socology. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Illinois.

Laura Guerrero was appointed the Jeanne Lind Herberger Professor in Communication at Arizona State University. A professor at the university since 1998, Dr. Guerrero also serves as director of innovation and engagement. She is the co-author of the text book, Close Encounters: Communication in Relationships (SAGE Publications, 2020, 6th Edition).

Dr. Guerrero holds bachelor’s and master’ degrees in communicaton from San Diego State University. She earned a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Arizona.