New Roles for Six Women Faculty Members at Colleges and Universities

Susan L. Stark was promoted to associate professor of occupational therapy and granted tenure in the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. She began teaching at the university in 2002 as an instructor.

Dr. Stark is a graduate of Alma College in Michigan, where she majored in exercise and health science. She holds a master’s degree in occupational therapy from Washington University and Ph.D. in environment and behavior science from the University of Missouri.

Sarah E. Mendelson was appointed distinguished service professor of public policy at Carnegie Mellon University. She will lead the university’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy campus in Washington, D.C. She was U.S. Ambassador to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations during the Obama administration.

Dr. Mendelson is a graduate of Yale University, where she majored in history. She earned a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.

Stephanie Lusk, an assistant professor of counselor education at the University of Arkansas, has been given the added duties as director of diversity for the College of Education and Health Professions.

Dr. Lusk holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Ph.D. in rehabilitation education and research from the University of Arkansas. She also holds a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from Arkansas State University.

Lesley Lavery was promoted to associate professor of political science and granted tenure at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. She joined the faculty at the college in 2012.

Dr. Lavery is a magna cum laude graduate of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, where she majored in politics. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Carrie Pettus-Davis will join the faculty of the School of Social Work at Florida State University this coming summer. She currently serves as an assistant professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis.

Dr. Pettus-Davis holds bachelor’s degrees in psychology and social welfare and a master of social work degree from the University of Kansas. She earned a Ph.D. in social work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Danielle Taana Smith was appointed professor of African American studies and director of the University Honors Program at Syracuse University in New York. She has been serving as a professor of sociology and director of the Honors Program at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.

Dr. Smith is a graduate of Dartmouth College, where she majored in Russian studies. She holds an MBA from what is now Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, Washington, and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of South Carolina.