Thirty-two members of the University of Chicago faculty have recently been appointed to named professorships. Eight of the faculty members appointed to these positions are women.
Claudia Brittenham has been named the Mary R. Morton Professor in the departments of art history and race, diaspora, and indigeneity. Dr. Brittenham’s research focuses on the art of ancient Mesoamerica, with particular attention to the ways that the materiality of art and the politics of style contribute to our understanding of the nature and meaning of images. Her most recent book is Unseen Art: Making, Vision, and Power in Ancient Mesoamerica (University of Texas Press, 2023). Dr. Brittenham holds a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree. and a Ph.D., all in the history of art and all from Yale University.
Margaret Gardel was appointed the Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor in the departments of physics and molecular genetics and cell biology, as well as the School of Molecular Engineering. She is the director of the James Franck Institute and the Center for Living Systems, a National Science Foundation Physics Frontier Center. Her research investigates how living matter emerges from collections of molecules to control the physiology of cells and tissues. She joined the university’s faculty in 2007. Dr. Gardel is a graduate of Brown University, where she majored in physics and mathematics. She earned a Ph.D. at Harvard University.
Sonia Kupfer has been appointed the Sara and Harold Lincoln Thompson Professor in the department of medicine. She serves as director of the Center for Clinical Genetics and Genomics and the GI Cancer Risk and Prevention clinic. Also, Dr. Kupfer is the inaugural director of the university’s Community for Advancement of Physician-Scientists for the Biological Sciences Division and the School of Medicine. Her research focuses on diagnosing and treating patients with genetic disorders such as hereditary gastrointestinal cancer syndromes and celiac disease. Professor Kupfer earned her medical degree at the University of Chicago.
Emma Edelman Levine has been named the Charles M. Harper Professor in the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Dr. Levine studies the psychology of altruism, trust, and ethical dilemmas. Her research seeks to understand how individuals make trade-offs between different values, and how this influences decision-making and social perception. Her main stream of research investigates the tension between honesty and benevolence. She joined the university’s faculty in 2017. Professor Levine holds bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and economics and a Ph.D. in operations, information, and decisions, all from the University of Pennsylvania.
Jennifer E. Mosley has been named the George Herbert Jones Professor in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice. Dr. Mosley’s scholarship examines the ways human service nonprofits, philanthropic foundations and government agencies work together to produce social policy and implement social programming in the United States. She is the co-author of Mismeasuring Impact: How Randomized Controlled Trials Threaten the Nonprofit Sector (Stanford Business Books, 2025). Professor Mosley received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. She holds a master of social work degree and a Ph.D. in social welfare from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Jennifer Pitts is the David and Mary Winton Green Professor and chair of the department of political science. She is a scholar of modern political and international thought. Professor Pitts is the author of Boundaries of the International: Law and Empire (Harvard University Press, 2018) and A Turn to Empire: the Rise of Imperial Liberalism in Britain and France (Princeton University Press, 2005). Professor Pitts joined the faculty at the University of Chicago in 2007 after teaching at Yale and Princeton. She is a graduate of Yale University, where she majored in English. Professor Pitts earned her Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University.
Abigail Sussman has been appointed the V. Duane Rath Professor at the university’s business school. Dr. Sussman’s research examines psychological biases that can lead consumers to commit errors in budgeting, spending, borrowing, and investing. She is a past president of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making and served as an associate editor at the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Professor Sussman earned a bachelor’s degree from Brown University in cognitive science and economics, and a joint Ph.D. from the psychology department and the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
Judith Zeitlin has been named the William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Service Professor in the department of East Asian languages and civilizations. Professor Zeitlin’s work combines literary history with other disciplines, including music, visual and material culture, medicine, gender studies, and film. She is the author of