Four Women Appointed to Endowed Professorships at Elon University

Elon University in North Carolina has recently appointed seven faculty members to endowed professorships, four of whom are women.

Rissa Trachman, has been named the J. Early Danieley Distinguished Professor. She first joined the Elon faculty in 2008 as an assistant professor of anthropology and reached the rank of full professor in 2022. During her 16-year tenure with the university, she spent four years as chair of the department of sociology and anthropology. Her research examines the everyday life of the Mayan people.

Dr. Trachman is a three-time graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned her bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and Ph.D. in anthropology and archaeology.

Qian Xu has been named the A.J. Fletcher Professor in Communications. Since joining the Elon faculty in 2010, she has held several leadership roles with the university including associate director of the undergraduate research program and editor-in-chief of Perspectives on Undergraduate Research. As a professor of strategic communication, she researches the social and psychological effects of online technology.

Dr. Xu received her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in journalism from Nanjing University in China. She holds a Ph.D. in mass communication from Pennsylvania State University.

Stephanie Hernandez Rivera has been named the inaugural Dr. Jo Watts Williams Emerging Professor. She has taught as an assistant professor of education at Elon for the past two years, primarily teaching in the master’s degree program in higher education. Prior to her current role, she was a visiting professor at the University of South Florida.

Dr. Hernandez Rivera is a graduate of William Patterson University in New Jersey, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in women’s and gender studies, early childhood education, and psychology. She holds a master’s degree in women’s and gender studies from Rutgers University in New Jersey and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy analysis from the University of Missouri.

Yidi Wu has been named the Stella S. and John C. O’Briant Developing Professor in History. She is currently an assistant professor of history and teaches East Asian and world history. Her research interests include student activism, social movements, higher education, documentary film, democracy, and authoritarianism. Prior to joining the Elon faculty in 2020, she taught at St. Mary’s College in Indiana.

Dr. Wu received her bachelor’s degree in history from Oberlin College in Ohio. She earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Irvine.