Five Women Who Have Been Appointed to Named Professorships at the University of Rochester

Jamie Adams has been appointed the David M. Levy Professor in Neurology. Dr. Adams serves as a faculty member in the Center for Health and Technology at the university. Professor Adams is a movement disorders specialist whose research focuses on the use and evaluation of digital health technology, such as wearable sensors, smartphone applications, and telemedicine. Dr. Adams is a graduate of Princeton University, where she majored in art and archaeology. She earned a medical degree at the University of Rochester.

Jennifer Grotz, a professor of English, has been named the Arthur Satz Professor of the Humanities. Professor Grotz is the author of four books of poetry, most recently Still Falling (Graywolf Press, 2023). In 2022 she won the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation for Everything I Don’t Know (World Books Poetry, 2021). Dr. Grotz is a graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans. She holds a master’s degree and a master of fine arts degree from Indiana University and a Ph.D. from the University of Houston.

Alayna Loiselle, a professor of orthopaedics in the Center for Musculoskeletal Research, has been appointed as the Donald and Mary Clark Distinguished Professor in Orthopaedic Research. She holds joint appointments as a professor of biomedical engineering and as a professor of pathology and of laboratory medicine. Her lab focuses on research around musculoskeletal and soft tissue fibrosis and regeneration. Dr. Loiselle is a graduate of Niagara University in Lewiston, New York, where she majored in biology. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of Rochester.

Laura Smoller has been appointed the Arthur R. Miller Professor of History. Dr. Smoller’s research interests are medieval and Renaissance Europe, medieval Christianity, early science and medicine, and the history of astrology and prophecy. Professor Smoller is the author of History, Prophecy, and the Stars: The Christian Astrology of Pierre d’Ailly, 1350-1420 (Princeton University Press, 1994) and The Saint and the Chopped-Up Baby: The Cult of Vincent Ferrer in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (Cornell University Press, 2014). Dr. Smoller is a graduate of Dartmouth College in Hanoveer, New Hampshire. She earned a Ph.D. in history at Harvard University.

Anna Weiss has been named the inaugural Pluta Professor in Breast Care. Dr. Weiss’ research interests focus on breast cancer and benign breast disease, and breast and axillary surgery. She joined the faculty at the University of Rochester in 2022 after teaching at Harvard University. A native of Syracuse, New York, Dr. Weiss eanred her medical degree at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.