Allison Shorten is the inaugural senior associate dean of professional development and faculty affairs for the School of Nursing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has served as chair of the school’s department of acute, chronic, and continuing care, executive director of the school’s Women and Children Health Initiative, and director of UAB’s Office of Interprofessional Curriculum.
A native of Australia, Dr. Shorten earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing and her master’s degree in public health and community nursing from the University of Wollongong. She holds a Ph.D. in nurse midwifery from the University of Sydney.
Jonli Tunstall has been named associate vice provost of student diversity at the University of California, Los Angeles and director of the UCLA Academic Advancement Program. She previously served as the program’s director of pre-college and summer programs. In addition to her administrative responsibilities, Dr. Tunstall teaches courses in the School of Education, the department of African American studies, and the department of ethnomusicology.
Dr. Tunstall earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Ph.D. in education from the University of California, Los Angles.
Nancy Deringer was promoted from interim associate dean to permanent associate dean for student success and academic programming in the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University. Currently holding the rank of associate professor, Dr. Deringer previously served as state director of the Washington 4-H Youth Development Program. Earlier in her career, she spent 10 years as an tenured faculty member with the University of Idaho.
Dr. Deringer is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, where she majored in gerentology. She holds a Ph.D. in adult and organizational leadership from the University of Idaho.
Rachel M. Stanley has been appointed physician-in-chief of Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and chair of the department of pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She comes to her new role from Columbus, Ohio, where she is division chief of emergency medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and a professor of pediatrics in the College of Medicine at Ohio State University. Earlier in her career, she founded the pediatric emergency medicine fellowship program at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Stanley completed her medical training at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland. She holds a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan.
Maxine Burkett is the founding faculty director of the newly established Center for Just Environmental Futures at Stanford University in California. She currently serves as the Emerson Collective Professor of Climate, Environment, and Society in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Throughout roles in the White House, the U.S. State Department, and academia, Professor Burkett has focused on the relationship between environmental change and inequity, its impact on communities, and how law and policy can help build a better world for all.
A graduate of Williams College in Massachusetts, Professor Burkett earned her juris doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley.
Elena Karahanna has been named a Regents’ Professor at the University of Georgia. The title is the university’s highest professorial honor. Dr. Karahanna currently serves as a distinguished research professor and the C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Distinguished Chair in Business Administration. One of the most cited information systems scholars in the world, she studies how individuals and organizations engage with digital technology.
Dr. Karahanna earned her bachelor’s degree in computer science and her MBA from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She holds a Ph.D. in management information systems from the University of Minnesota.
Nadine Kabengi was appointed associate vice president of research strategic initiatives at Georgia State University. A faculty member since 2012, she is a full professor of geosciences and associate dean of the Graduate School. She also holds a joint faculty appointment in the department of chemistry. Her research interests include environmental mineralogy and surface chemistry.
Dr. Kabengi received her bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering and her master’s degree in soil science from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. She holds a Ph.D. in soil physical chemistry from the University of Florida.
Melanie Leuty is director of the School of Psychology in the College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Southern Mississippi. She first joined the university’s faculty in 2010. For the past three years, she has directed the Center for Faculty Development. Her research expertise includes career choice and development, career interventions, and vocational assessment.
Dr. Leuty is a graduate of the University of Missouri, where she double-majored in psychology and sociology. She holds a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Minnesota.
Zena Herrera is a new assistant professor of meat science and muscle biology in the department of animal science and the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Arkansas. She previously worked in research and development with Tyson Foods, where she investigated methods to improve a wide range of meat products. In her new role, she plans to examine how management decisions, diet, genetics, and stress interact to influence meat quality.
Dr. Herrera is an alumna of the University of Arkansas, where she majored in animal science. She holds a master’s degree in animal science from Texas A&M University and a doctorate in animal science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.