Six Women Faculty Members Taking on New Assignments at Major Universities

Lauren M. Childs is a new assistant professor in the department of mathematics at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. She was a visiting assistant professor of mathematics and statistics at Williams College in Massachusetts and was a research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Childs is a graduate of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Lori Setton was appointed the Lucy and Stanley Lopata Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. She joined the faculty at the university in 2015 after teaching at Duke University.

Professor Setton is a graduate of Princeton University, where she majored in mechanical and aerospace engineering. She holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and a Ph.D. in biomechanics from Columbia University in New York City.

Veronica B. Decker is a new assistant professor for graduate program in executive nursing at the University of Central Florida. She is the co-author of Coping With Cancer: A Patient Pocket Book of Thoughts, Advice, and Inspiration for the Ill (Hygeia Media, 2009).

Dr. Decker is a graduate of the College of St. Teresa in Winona, Minnesota. She earned a master’s degree in psychology from Winona State University, an MBA from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, and a doctor of nursing practice degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.

Wonder Drake, an associate professor of medicine and pathology, microbiology, and immunology at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was named director of the Sarcoidosis Center of Excellence at the university. Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that can affect many major organs.

Dr. Drake is a graduate of the University of Alabama and earned her medical degree at Vanderbilt University.

Anne C. Stone was appointed a Regents Professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. She joined the faculty at the university in 2003 after teaching at the University of New Mexico.

Professor Stone is a graduate of the University of Virginia. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in anthropology from Pennsylvania State University.

Jane Meza, chair of the department of biostatistics and senior associate dean in the College of Public Health, was named interim associate vice chancellor for global and student support at the University of Nebraska, Omaha and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Dr. Meza holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in statistics, all from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.