Five Women Selected for Endowed Faculty Roles at Universities

Jennifer Gandhi has been named the Howard Wang ’95 Professor of Global Affairs and Political Science at Yale University. She teaches in the department of political science and the Jackson School of Global Affairs, where she also serves as deputy dean. Earlier, she was chair of the department of political science at Emory University in Atlanta. Her scholarship focuses on authoritarian regimes and transitions to and from democracy. She has authored numerous publications, including Political Institutions Under Dictatorship (Cambridge University Press, 2010).

Dr. Gandhi received her bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and her Ph.D. in political science from New York University.

Rebecca Popowsky has been named the Wilks Family Director of the Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design. She been an instructor with Penn’s department of landscape architecture for the past decade, teaching advanced design studios and professional practice courses. She has served as research associate with the architecture firm OLIN since 2010.

Popowsky is a graduate of Yale University, where she majored in urban studies. She earned a master of liberal arts degree and master of architecture degree in landscape architecture and regional planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

Talitha Washington has been named the Sean McCleese Endowed Chair in Computer Science, Race, and Social Justice and executive director of the Center for Applied Data Science and Analytics at Howard University. She most recently served as the inaugural director of the Atlanta University Center Data Science Initiative. She is the current president of the Association for Women in Mathematics and director of the United States National Science Foundation’s National Data Science Alliance.

Dr. Washington is a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta, where she majored in mathematics. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Connecticut.

Amanda Leightner has been named the inaugural Merrick Family Professor in Respiratory Care in the College of Health Sciences at Boise State University in Idaho. Prior to joining the Boise State faculty this academic year, she was director of clinical respiratory education at Youngstown State University in Ohio. Her medical background includes experience in critical care and trauma.

Dr. Leightner is a three-time graduate of Youngstown State University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in respiratory care, master’s degree in health and human services, and Ph.D. in health services.

Kirsten Olds has been appointed as the inaugural associate provost for the arts and the Marilynn and Carl Thoma professor at Oklahoma State University. She will also serve as director of the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art. She comes to her new role after 15 years with the University of Tulsa, where she most recently served as interim dean of the Kendall College of Arts and Sciences. As an art historian and museum curator, she focuses on modern and contemporary visual art.

Dr. Olds received her bachelor’s degree in art history from Columbia University. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in the history of art from the University of Michigan.