University of Wisconsin Appoints Two Women to Hilldale Professorships

The University of Wisconsin has announced the appointment of four faculty members to Hilldale Professorships. These named professorships honor faculty members who have excelled in scholarly activity, have records of outstanding research or creativity, and show promise for continued success. The positions include an additional $15,000 annually for research activities. Two of the four new Hillsdale Professors are women.

Carol Ryff is a professor of psychology at the university. Her research focuses on psychological well-being. She is directing a major national study known as MIDUS (Midlife in the U.S.) which has been documenting the psychological well-being of more than 10,000 adults for the past two decades. The study has resulted in several books including How Healthy Are We?: A National Study of Well-Being at Midlife (University of Chicago Press, 2004). Professor Ryff is co-editor of the book. She holds a Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University.

Susan Stanford Friedman is the Sally Mead Hands Bascom Professor of English and the Virginia Woolf Professor of English and Women’s Studies at the university. She is also the director of the Institute for Research in the Humanities. Dr. Friedman is a graduate of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where she doubled majored in Greek and English. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin. Professor Friedman is the author of several books including Mappings: Feminism and the Cultural Geographies of Encounter (Princeton University Press, 1998).