Seven Women Faculty Members Who Are Taking on New Assignments

Jumi Hayaki was promoted to full professor of psychology at the College of the Holy Cors in Worcester, Massachusetts. She has been a member of the Holy Cross faculty since 2007. Her research focuses on the processes of emotion regulation as they relate to eating disorders and substance use disorders.

Dr. Hayaki earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Yale University and a Ph.D. in psychology from Rutgers University.

Olufunmilayo Ayobami will join the faculty at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts in January 2021 as an assistant teaching professor in the department of biomedical engineering. She is currently assistant dean for inclusion and engagement in the Graduate School at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Dr. Ayobami is a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where she majored in biomedical engineering. She holds a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Cornell University.

Sandra Spiroff, a professor of mathematics at the University of Mississippi, was appointed program director in the Division of Mathematical Sciences of the National Science Foundation. She joined the faculty at the University of Mississippi in 2008.

Dr. Spiroff is a graduate of Indiana University. She earned a master’s degree n mathematics at Saint Louis University and a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Illinois.

Lydia Didia is a new assistant professor of accounting in the College of Business at Jackson State University in Mississippi. A certified public accountant, Dr. Didia taught at Pennsylvania State University Harrisburg for the past four years.

Dr. Didia obtained a bachelor’s of science degree from the State University of New York at Brockport. She holds an MBA and a Ph.D. in business administration with a concentration in accounting from Jackson State University.

Chan Li, the Stephen A. Batman Professor in the School of Business at the University of Kansas, has been appointed as an editor at The Accounting Review, a leading journal of accounting research. Professor Li joined the faculty at the University of Kansas in fall 2019 after holding a tenured position at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Li is a graduate of Sichuan International Studies University in China. She holds a master’s degree in management information systems from the University of Akron in Ohio and a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Kansas.

Elizabeth Kuchler was named the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico Nursing Professor of Practice at New Mexico State University. The newly created faculty role is dedicated to preparing nursing, nurse practitioner, and social work students for New Mexico’s workforce. Dr. Kuchler has been a faculty member in the School of Nursing for the past five years.

Dr. Kuckler holds a master’s degree in family practice nursing from the University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois. She earned a doctor of nursing practice degree from New Mexico State University.

Stacey A. Hall, professor of sport management at the University of Southern Mississippi, has been named the new director of the university’s National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security. She has served as the center’s interim director since April and previously was the associate director. Dr. Hall joined the faculty at the university in 2006.

Professor hall holds a bachelor’s degree in management, an MBA, and a doctorate in sport administration, all from the University of Southern Mississippi.