A Trio of Women Scholars Who Have Been Appointed to Endowed Professorships

Audrey Ruple has been named the Dorothy A. and Richard G. Metcalf Professor of Veterinary Medical Informatics at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. The professorship recognizes faculty engaged in information technology to advance the development, teaching, and distribution of veterinary medicine and research information. Dr. Ruple joined the college in 2021 as an associate professor with tenure. Earlier, she served on the faculty at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Dr. Ruple received her bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, doctorate in veterinary medicine, and Ph.D., all from Colorado State University.

Kristin Arola is the inaugural Karen L. Gillmor Ph.D. Endowed Professor in Professional and Public Writing at Michigan State University. She also serves as the interim director of the university’s American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program. Her research explores the relations between land, histories, and cultures and how the words, designs, and images we compose evoke the past while opening up possible futures.

Dr. Arola is a graduate of the University of Michigan. She holds a Ph.D. from Michigan Technological University.

LaQuandra Nesbitt, an expert in population health and leader in advancing health equity initiatives, was named the first Bicentennial Endowed Professorship in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at George Washington University. She was also named executive director of the new Center for Population Health Sciences and Health Equity and senior associate dean of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Since 2015, Dr. Nesbitt has served as the director of the District of Columbia Department of Health.

Dr. Nesbitt is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where she majored in biochemistry. She earned her medical degree at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit and added a master of public health degree from Harvard University.