New Academic Positions for Eight Women Scholars

Eugenia S. Vasileiadou has joined the Bryn Mawr College faculty as an assistant professor of chemistry. Centered on inorganic materials chemistry, her work aims to use structural synthetic chemistry for the discovery of new materials to realize a sustainable energy and environmental landscape.

Dr. Vasileiadou is a graduate of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, where she majored in chemistry. She holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones has joined the Emory University faculty as an assistant professor of theology and Africana studies. She comes to her new role from Boston College, where she was an assistant professor of theology and African and African diaspora studies. A scholar of Black religion, she recently published her first monograph, Immaculate Misconceptions: A Black Mariology (Oxford University Press, June 2025).

A graduate of the University of Virginia, Dr. Adkins-Jones earned her master of divinity degree and her Ph.D. from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Shannon Wiltsey Stirman has been named co-director of the newly launched Center for Responsible and Effective AI Technology Enhancement of Treatments for PTSD at Stanford University in California. A full professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, she studies implementation science, evidence-based treatment for PTSD, depression, suicide prevention, and the use of technology to improve access to mental health interventions.

A graduate of St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Dr. Wiltsey Stirman earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Amanda Kaltenberg has been named chair of the department of marine and environmental sciences at Savannah State University in Georgia. A faculty member since 2013, she teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in oceanography, fisheries, and data analysis methods. As manager of the Coastal Oceanography Lab, she studies bio-acoustic methods to study the biological and physical interactions in the oceans.

Dr. Kaltenberg holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of North Dakota, a master’s degree in oceanography from Texas A&M University, and a Ph.D. in oceanography from Oregon State University.

Federica Brandizzi is the new director of the Michigan State University Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory. Largely funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the lab researches photosynthetic organisms to discover how they work on the molecular level. Currently holding the rank of distinguished professor, Dr. Brandizzi has been a Michigan State faculty member in the department of plant biology for nearly two decades.

Dr. Brandizzi received her bachelor’s degree in biology and Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from the University of Rome in Italy.

Debra Sullivan has been named a university distinguished professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center. The distinction is the university’s highest faculty honor. Currently, Dr. Sullivan serves as chair of the department of dietetics and nutrition and the Midwest Dairy Endowed Professor of Clinical Nutrition. Her current research focuses on the measurement of dietary intake and behavioral modification interventions in a variety of settings, including weight management, the aging brain, and post-surgery pain management.

Dr. Sullivan earned both her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in nutrition and medical dietetics from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She holds a Ph.D. in nutritional sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Leslie C. Appiah is the new chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology and executive director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. She most recently taught at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital Colorado. Her medical expertise centers on fertility and reproductive preservation in women and girls undergoing cancer treatment, hormone replacement therapy, and breast cancer treatment.

A graduate of Baylor University in Texas, Dr. Appiah earned her medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Shaniece B. Bickham has been appointed director of the School of Communication and Design at Loyola University New Orleans. She will also serve as an associate professor of mass communication. Prior to her new position, she was an associate professor and program coordinator for mass communication and film at Dillard University in New Orleans. Her scholarship focuses on source credibility, crisis communication, and political messaging.

Dr. Bickham holds three degrees in mass communication: a bachelor’s degree from Dillard University, a master’s degree from Loyola University New Orleans, and a Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi.

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