Linna An has joined the faculty in the department of biosciences at Rice University in Houston, Texas. She joins Rice from the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington. In her research, she leverages deep learning methods to design proteins that can perform specific physiological functions, such as detecting chemical changes in the body.
Dr. An received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China and her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Lisa Hibbard has named director of the Teaching Resource and Research Center at Spelman College, a women’s liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. A full professor of chemistry, she has taught at Spelman for the past four decades. Over her tenure, she has served in several roles, including chair of chemistry and biochemistry, director of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute program, and director of the health careers program.
Dr. Hibbard received her bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Cynthia Crawford has been appointed associate dean for research and innovation for the John R. and Kathy R. Hairston College of Health and Human Sciences at North Carolina A&T State University. With nearly three decades of academic experience, she most recently served as a faculty fellow and interim associate provost for research at California State University, San Bernardino.
Dr. Crawford holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Kentucky.
Jamie Runnells has been named head of the department of art at Mississippi State University. Her appointment marks a return to the university, where she previously taught from 2002 to 2013. More recently, she was a distinguished professor of visual communication and coordinator of the master of fine arts degree program at Jacksonville State University in Alabama.
Professor Runnells received a bachelor’s degree in fine art from Augusta State University in Georgia and a master’s degree in graphic design from the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland.
Eleanor Holdridge has been appointed chair of the department of drama at Syracuse University in New York. She comes to her new role from the Catholic University of America, where she was a professor and chair of the department of drama. In addition to her career in academia, she has directed plays for over 30 years.
Professor Holdridge received her master of fine arts degree from the Yale School of Drama.
Kate Hanch has been appointed director of the Baptist House of Studies in the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She has taught at several institutions throughout her career, including the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Overland Park, Kansas, and Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. She is the author of Storied Witness: The Theology of Black Women Preachers in 19th-Century America (Fortress Press, 2022).
Dr. Hanch holds a bachelor’s degree in religion from Missouri Baptist University, a master of divinity degree from Central Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in theology and ethics from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.
Sara Bernstein has joined the faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz as a professor and chair of the department of philosophy. Most recently, she was the R. L. Canala College Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. Earlier in her career, she was the Andrew W. Mellon Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Duke University in North Carolina. Her research specializes in metaphysics and feminist philosophy.
Dr. Berstein is an honors graduate of the University of Chicago, where she majored in philosophy. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Arizona.
Anita Hardeman has been promoted from interim director to permanent director of the School of Music at Western Illinois University. A faculty member since 2013, she previously served as the school’s graduate coordinator. As a musicologist, she specializes in French opera of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Hardeman holds a Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario in Canada.
Lynn Adler has been named a distinguished professor in the department of biology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her work spans the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology. In recent years, her research has examined how floral defense traits, including nectar and pollen chemistry, affect pathogen loads in bumble bees.
A graduate of Brown University, Dr. Adler holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis.
Janet Currie has joined the faculty at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, as a professor in the department of economics and a faculty affiliate with the Tobin Center for Economic Policy. In addition to her appointment at Yale, she serves as co-director of the program on families and children at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Her current research focuses on socioeconomic differences in health, environmental threats to health, child mental health, and the long-run impact of child health.
Dr. Currie received her bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Toronto in Canada. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University.
Charu Sinha has been named academic director of the master’s degree program in business analytics at Chapman University in California. She has served in several roles at the university, including director of continuous improvement and assistant dean for undergraduate programs for the Argyros College of Business and Economics. Her research interests include stochastic modeling, optimization of operations processes, and pedagogical issues.
Dr. Sinha holds a bachelor’s degree from St. Xavier’s College in India, a master’s degree from Syracuse University in New York, and a Ph.D from Stony Brook University in New York.
Noell Wilson has been appointed executive director of the Croft Institute for International Studies at the University of Mississippi. A faculty member since 2007, she previously served as chair of the university’s department of history. As a historian, she specializes in maritime Japan and the North Pacific.
Dr. Wilson is a graduate of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she majored in history with a focus on East Asian studies. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Japanese history from Harvard University.