Three Women Named to Endowed Chairs at Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, has announced the appointment of nine faculty members to endowed professorships. Three of the faculty members named to endowed chairs are women.

Lauren A. Benton was appointed to the Nelson O. Tyrone Jr. Chair in History. Dr. Benton also serves as dean of the College of Arts and Science at Vanderbilt. She is the author or co-editor of five books including A Search for Sovereignty: Law and Geography in European Empires, 1400-1900 (Cambridge University Press, 2009) and Law and Colonial Cultures: Legal Regimes in World History, 1400-1900 (Cambridge University Press, 2001). Before joining the faculty at Vanderbilt, Professor Benton held an endowed chair at New York University and served as dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. A graduate of Harvard University, Professor Benton earned a Ph.D. in anthropology and history at Johns Hopkins University.

Cindy D. Kam was named to the William R. Kenan Jr. Chair in the department of political science. She also serves as senior associate dean for faculty in the College of Arts and Science and is the director of the Research on Individuals, Politics & Society Laboratory. Professor Kam is the co-author of two books: Modeling and Interpreting Interactive Hypotheses in Regression Analysis (University of Michigan Press, 2007) and Us Against Them: Ethnocentric Foundations of American Opinion (University of Chicago Press, 2009). Professor Kam holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan.

Jeanne A. Wanzek now holds the Currey-Ingram Chair in Special Education in Peabody College at Vanderbilt University. Her research is focused on remediation efforts for students with reading difficulties or disabilities. Dr. Wanzek joined the Vanderbilt faculty this year after teaching at Florida State University since 2007. Professor Wanzek holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin.