Five Women Faculty Members in New Posts or Taking on New Duties

The Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and The Carter Center’s Mental Health Program have appointed psychiatric mental health nurse educator and researcher Aparna Kumar to a joint faculty position focused on enhancing global mental health nursing and workforce development. She was the director of the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Dr. Kumar is a graduate of the University of Illinois, She holds a master’s degree from Columbia University and a master of public health degree from the University of Malawi. Dr. Kumar also holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania.

Pari Riahi, an associate professor of architecture has been given the added duties of associate dean of academic operations and infrastructure for the College of Humanities & Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Before joining the UMass Amherst department of architecture in 2016, she taught at the Rhode Island School of Design for eight years. She is an international editor of the Journal of Architecture.

Dr. Riahi completed her Ph.D. in the history and theory of architecture at McGill University in Montreal.

Kiara Winans has joined the department of sustainable biomaterials at Virginia Tech as a collegiate assistant professor. Dr. Winans’ expertise is in industrial ecology. She was previously a lecturer at the University of California, Davis, where she co-created and co-directed the Industrial Ecology Program.

Dr. Winans earned a Ph.D. in soil, water, and ecosystems sciences and biological and agricultural engineering from the University of Florida.

Amanda Blair, a professor in the department of animal science at South Dakota State University, was given the added duties of assistant director of the university’s West River Research and Extension.

Dr. Blair grew up on a small, diversified farm in southeastern Indiana and received her bachelor’s degree and doctorate from Purdue University. Her doctoral research focused on understanding the interactions between muscle ultrastructure and postmortem proteolysis with the goal of improving beef tenderness.

Clare Croft, a dance historian, theorist, and curator who has spearheaded national efforts to strengthen arts infrastructure, has been appointed the inaugural director of arts research/creative practice at the University of Michigan. She is an associate professor of American culture and of women’s and gender studies and has a joint appointment as an associate professor in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance.

Dr. Croft joined the university’s faculty as an assistant professor in 2010. She received a Ph.D. in performance as public practice from the University of Texas at Austin.