Vassar College, the highly rated liberal arts educational institution in Poughkeepsie, New York, has announced the promotion of nine faculty members to the rank of full professor. “The research of faculty promoted this academic year to the rank of professor reflects great innovation across their fields,” notes Demetrius Eudell, dean of the faculty at the college. “Their work, which has deepened many areas of scholarship, will also enhance Vassar’s curriculum and collegiate life.”
Three of the nine promotions to full professor went to women.
Light Carruyo was promoted to full professor of sociology and Latin American/Latinx studies. She has taught at Vassar for nearly a quarter century. Her research is related to the gendered and racialized dimensions of nation building and economic development. She examines themes of feminist ethnography, historical sociology, and pedagogy in higher education. Dr. Carruyo is a graduate of Oberlin College in Ohio. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Alison Spodek Keimowitz was named professor of chemistry. She joined the faculty in 2009 and has been chair of the chemistry department since 2020. Her research focuses on the behaviors of contaminants in the environment, particularly arsenic, manganese, and other redox-sensitive metals. Professor Keimowitz is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where she majored in chemistry. She holds a master’s degree in physical chemistry from Yale University and a Ph.D. in Earth and environmental sciences from Columbia University.
Silke von der Emde was appointed a full professor of German studies. A member of the faculty since 1994, her research is situated at the intersection of memory, disability, and feminist studies in contemporary German literature, film, and culture. She is the author of Entering History: Feminist Dialogues in Irmtraud Morgner’s Prose (Peter Lang International Publishing, 2004). Professor von der Emde is a graduate of Tübingen University in Germany. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Indiana University Bloomington.