Eleven Women Faculty Members Who Are Taking on New Roles in the Academic World

Mary Moran has been named to the Arnold A. Sio Chair in Diversity and Community at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York. She will also serve as a professor of anthropology and Africana and Latin American studies.

Dr. Moran holds a bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in anthropology both from Brown University.

Emily Johns has been named an assistant professor of digital learning at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri. Previously, she served as team leader for Cry Africa, the HIV/AIDS initiative for the continent of Africa.

Dr. Johns holds a doctorate in curriculum studies from Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

Elizabeth Evans has been named interim vice president of academic affairs at Mississippi Valley State University. She most recently served as the university’s associate vice president of academic affairs.

Dr. Evans holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Mississippi Valley State University, a master’s degree in public management from the University of Houston-Clear Lake, and a Ph.D. in public policy and administration from Mississippi State University.

Annie Antón has been named a technologist advisor to the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. She is a professor in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Dr. Antón holds a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and Ph.D. all in computer science from Georgia Tech.

Susan A. Thornton has been named senior fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School. She was the former acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Thornton holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and Russian from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, a master’s degree in international relations and Soviet studies from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and a master’s degree in national strategy and resource management from the National Defense University’s Eisenhower School.

Maritza Soto Keen has been named interim director of the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at the University of Georgia. She has been a senior public service faculty member at the Fanning Institute since 2002.

Dr. Soto Keen holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and psychology from Queens College of the City University of New York, a master’s degree in psychology from the University of West Florida, and a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Georgia.

Lu Wei has been named an assistant professor of chemistry at the California Institute of Technology. She recently completed postdoctoral work at Columbia University in New York City.

Dr. Wei holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Nanjing University in China and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Elizabeth Shlala has been named assistant director of the core curriculum and associate professor of the practice at Boston College. She was a visiting scholar at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Dr. Shlala holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations, a master’s degree, and a Ph.D. in Middle East and North Africa History from Georgetown University.

Abby Benninghoff has been named associate dean for research and graduate student services in the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences at Utah State University. She is an associate professor in the department of animal, dairy, and veterinary sciences and the School of Veterinary Medicine at Utah State.

Dr. Benninghoff holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and biology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a Ph.D. in marine science from the University of Texas at Austin.

Niloufar Salehi has been appointed as an assistant professor in the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley. She previously conducted research for Microsoft.

Dr. Salehi holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. both in computer science from Stanford University.

Geeta Swamy has been named vice dean and associate vice provost for scientific integrity for Duke University and the Duke School of Medicine. She was senior associate dean for regulatory oversight and research initiatives in clinical research for the School of Medicine.

Dr. Swamy holds a medical doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.