New Academic Appointments for Four Women Professors

Deirdre Cassell has been promoted to assistant vice president of the Undergraduate School and The Women’s College at Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia. For the past four years, she has served as executive director of academic initiatives and student success. Alongside her leadership responsibilities, she has taught chemistry at the university since 2017.

Professor Cassell is an alumna of Brenau’s Women’s College, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in biology. She holds a master’s degree in chemistry from Georgia State University.

Julia Bullard has been named director of the School of Music in the College of the Arts at Georgia State University. She comes to her new role from Kennesaw State University, where she has taught for the past three years. She also had a stint as interim director of the university’s Bailey School of Music. Earlier, she was a viola professor and associate director of graduate studies for the University of Northern Iowa School of Music.

A trained violist, Dr. Bullard holds a bachelor of music degree and master of music degree from Temple University in Philadelphia. She earned a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Georgia.

Michelle Pantoya has been conferred the title of Horn Distinguished Professor at Texas Tech University. The appointment is the university’s highest faculty honor. A Texas Tech faculty member since 2000, she currently serves as the J.W. Wright Regents Chair in Mechanical Engineering and director of the Combustion Lab at the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering. She is the author of several children’s books on engineering, including Designing Dandelions: An Engineering Everything Adventure (Texas Tech University Press, 2013).

Dr. Pantoya received her bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering, as well as her master’s degree and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Davis.

Nicolette Manglos-Weber has been appointed associate dean of students and community life for the Boston University School of Theology. She is an associate professor of religion and society who is interested in how religious communities shape political and social well-being. Prior to her new appointment, she served as director of the school’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Dr. Manglos-Weber is a graduate of Wheaton College, where she majored in sociology. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.