Seven Women Selected for Endowed Faculty Positions

Kim McKnight has been named the Anna Lou and Bob Schaberg Chair of Practice in the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. She currently serves as director of the school’s Center for Teaching Leadership and an assistant professor in the department of teaching and learning. Her academic pursuits center around recruiting, preparing, supporting, and retaining high-quality teachers.

Dr. McKnight received her bachelor’s degree in sociology and master’s degree in elementary education from the University of Virginia. She holds a Ph.D. in educational psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Karida Brown has been named the inaugural Diane Nash Descendants of the Emancipation Chair in the John Lewis Center for Social Justice at Fisk University in Nashville. She comes to her new role from the University of California, Los Angeles where she served as a professor of sociology and African American studies. In addition to her teaching appointment, she served as the director of racial equity and action for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Dr. Brown holds a master of public administration degree in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in sociology from Brown University.

Joan Cook has been appointed as the Albert E. Kent Professor of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at Yale University. She currently holds additional faculty appointments in the division of mental health services and the psychology section. As a scholar, her research focuses on traumatic stress, geriatric mental health, and implementation science.

Dr. Cook received her master’s degree and Ph.D. from Nova Southeastern University in Florida.

Elizabeth Gosnell has been named the director of the Division of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics and the Robert Creedon Endowed Chair at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, an affiliate organization of the University of Cincinnati. Before joining the Cincinnati health system in 2013, she served as an educator at Ohio State University and as a staff pediatric dentist with Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Gosnell received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry and doctor of dental medicine degree from the University of South Carolina. She holds a master’s degree in dentistry from Ohio State University.

Chen X. Chen has been named the Sorensen Endowed Professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Arizona. She most recently served as an associate professor in the Indiana University School of Nursing. Her research centers around the study of menstrual pain, which affects over half of women of reproductive age.

Dr. Chen holds a bachelor of medicine degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China and a Ph.D. in nursing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Jamie Small has been named the Raymond A. Roesch, S.M. Chair in the Social Sciences at the University of Dayton in Ohio. She currently serves as an associate professor and spent the past two years as director of the university’s women’s and gender studies program. She previously served as a gender-based violence advisor at the United States Agency for International Development.

Dr. Small is a graduate of Indiana University, where she majored in English literature. She holds a master’s degree in sexuality studies from San Francisco State University and a Ph.D. in sociology and women’s studies from the University of Michigan.

Kaileigh Byrne has been named to a Dr. Wallace R. Roy Distinguished Professor at Clemson University in South Carolina. She currently serves as an associate professor in the department of psychology and director of the university’s Cognition and Decision Lab. She holds faculty affiliations with the School of Health Research and the Clemson Institute for Engaged Aging.

Dr. Byrne is a graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, where she double-majored in biology and psychology. She holds a Ph.D. in cognition and cognitive neuroscience from Texas A&M University.