Four Women Scholars Appointed to Named Professorships at the University of Chicago

The University of Chicago has announced the appointment of 14 faculty members to named chairs. Women were appointed to four of the 14 named professorships.

Sian Beilock, vice provost for academic initiatives and professor of psychology at the University of Chicago was named the Stella M. Rowley Professor. Her research focuses on how stress affects human performance and behavior. Professor Beilock is the author of How the Body Knows Its Mind: The Surprising Power of the Physical Environment to Influence How You Think and Feel (Atria Books, 2015) and Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To (Free Press, 2010). Professor Beilock joined the faculty at the University of Chicago in 2005 after teaching at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego and holds a Ph.D. from Michigan State University.

Diane Brentari was appointed the Mary Werkman Professor in the Humanities Division at the University of Chicago. She is a professor of linguistics and is an expert in sign languages. Professor Brentari is the director of the Sign Language Linguistics Laboratory and co-director of the Center for the Study of Gesture, Sign, and Language. She is the author of Sign Languages: A Cambridge Language Survey (Cambridge University Press, 2010). Professor Brentari joined the faculty at the University of Chicago in 2011 after teaching at Purdue University. She is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, where she double majored in speech pathology and audiology as well as art history. Dr. Brentari holds a master’s degree from George Washington University and a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Chicago.

Kathryn A. Colby was named the Louis Block Professor. She has been serving as a professor and chair of ophthalmology and visual science in the Division of Biological Sciences at the university. A respected corneal surgeon, Dr. Colby joined the faculty at the University of Chicago in 2015. Dr. Colby is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and holds a Ph.D. in neurobiology from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Melissa Gilliam was appointed the Ellen H. Block Professor in Health Justice. She is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and a professor of pediatrics. Dr. Gilliam joined the faculty at the University of Chicago in 2005. She serves as director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry and Innovation in Sexual and Reproductive Health. In 2015, Dr. Gilliam was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. A graduate of Yale University, Professor Gilliam earned a master’s degree in philosophy and politics at the University of Oxford in England. She earned her medical doctorate at Harvard University and holds a master of public health degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago.