Founded in 1861, Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, was one of the Seven Sisters liberal arts colleges for women. It became a coeducational institution in 1970. Today, women make up 62 percent of the student body.
The highly rated liberal arts educational institution has recently announced that 11 faculty members have been promoted to associate professor and granted tenure. Six of the promotions went to women.
Alicia Atwood, who joined the college’s faculty in 2018, was named an associate professor of economics. She is an applied microeconomist with interests in health and labor economics. Dr. Atwood is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where she majored in biomedical engineering. She holds a master’s degree in health policy and management from Columbia University in New York City and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Myra Hughey was promoted to associate professor of biology. Her research examines how animals come to host specific groups of microbes and how stress, disease, and varying environmental conditions affect the relationship between microbes and their hosts. A member of the Vassar faculty since 2018, Dr. Hughey is a graduate of Loyola University in New Orleans. She holds a Ph.D. in biology from Boston University.
Krystle McLaughin is a new associate professor of chemistry. She joined the faculty at Vassar in 2017. Dr. McLaughin is currently the co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) Centers for Research on Structural Biology of Infectious Diseases. Dr. McLaughin is a graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, where she majored in physics. She holds a Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of Rochester in New York.
Lori Newman was promoted to associate professor of psychological sciences. Her research includes examining the unique role of astrocytes, star-shaped cells that bring resources in and out of the brain as well as play a role in immune responses in the brain and in attention, learning, and memory. A member of the Vassar faculty since 2017. Dr. Newman is a graduate of the College of William and Mary in Virginia. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire.
Tracy O’Neill was appointed associate professor of English. She is the author of the award-winning book Woman of Interest: A Memoir – A Dark and Funny True Story About Crime, Family, and a Search for Identity in Korea (HarperOne, 2024). A graduate of Connecticut College with a degree in history, Professor O’Neill has also authored two novels. She holds two master’s degrees in communications from Columbia University and a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from the City University of New York. She joined the Vassar faculty in 2020.
Catherine Tan was promoted to associate professor of sociology. A faculty member since 2020, Dr. Tan’s research interests include medical sociology, science knowledge and technology, social movements, and qualitative methods. She is the author of Spaces on the Spectrum: How Autism Movements Resist Experts and Create Knowledge (Columbia University Press, 2024). Dr. Tan holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of California, San Diego, a master’s degree in sociology from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in sociology from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.