Jamie Taylor has been appointed associate provost at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. A faculty member since 2006, she currently holds the title of Mary E. Garrett Alumnae Professor of Literatures in English. Her scholarship focuses on medieval literature and culture, law and literature, and the global Middle Ages.
A graduate of Stanford University, Dr. Taylor received her master’s degree from the University of Colorado Boulder and her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Jill Sible has been promoted to vice provost for undergraduate academic affairs at Virginia Tech. Since joining the university’s department of biological sciences in 1998, she has served in several academic, research, and leadership roles. Most recently, she was associate vice provost for undergraduate education. She also directs the Academy for Experiential Learning.
A first-generation college student, Dr. Sible earned her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of New Hampshire. She holds a Ph.D. in cell, molecular, and developmental biology from the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.
Bethany Neilson has been appointed director of the Utah Water Research Laboratory at Utah State University. Since 2008, she has held a joint appoint as a researcher with the laboratory and a professor in the civil and environmental engineering department. She also currently serves as head of the department’s water division and director of the Logan River Observatory.
Dr. Neilson holds a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering, all from Utah State University.
Jessica Calarco, professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been elected vice president of the American Sociological Association. In her research, she examines how and why systems of power and privilege contribute to socioeconomic, racial, and gender inequalities in education, family, and health. Her most recent book is Holding It Together: How Women Became America’s Safety Net (Portfolio, 2024).
Dr. Calarco is a magna cum laude graduate of Brown University, where she double-majored in sociology and education studies. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Ann Fisher-Wirth, professor emerita of English at the University of Mississippi, has been named poet laureate for the state of Mississippi. She will serve in this role for a four-year term. Until 2022, she had been serving as director of the university’s undergraduate minor in environmental studies. Earlier this year, she published the poetry anthology Attached to the Living World: A New Ecopoetry Anthology (Terra Firma, 2025).
Dr. Fisher-Wirth is a magna cum laude graduate of Pomona College in Claremont, California, where she majored in English. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in English and American literature from the Claremont Graduate School.
Miechelle McKelvey has been appointed chair of the department of special education and communication disorders in the College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A faculty member for nearly two decades, she most recently served as associate dean of the College of Education. Her research focuses on assessment and intervention for adults with communication disorders.
Dr. McKelvey holds a bachelor’s degree in communication disorders from the University of Nebraska-Omaha, a master’s degree in speech-language pathology from the University of Nebraska-Kearney, and a Ph.D. in communication disorders from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Maura Rhodes has been named associate dean of the School of Social Work at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. She has been a faculty member with the university for the past 14 years. Earlier in her tenure, she played a key role in developing Sacred Heart’s master of social work degree program. Prior to academia, she spent 15 years with the Family and Children’s Agency in Norwalk, Connecticut.
Professor Rhodes is a graduate of Fairfield University. She holds a master’s degree in urban studies and a master of social work degree from Southern Connecticut State University.