A Quartet of Women Scholars Who Are Taking on New Assignments in Higher Education

Rossana Hu has been named as a tenured faculty member and chair of the department of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, effective in 2024. Born in Taiwan, Hu will be the third woman to lead the department. Professor Hu currently serves as the chair of the department of architecture in the College of Architecture & Urban Planning at Tongji University in Shanghai.

Professor Hu is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where she majored in architecture and music. She holds a master’s degree in architecture and urban planning from Princeton University in New Jersey.

Mary Wiedenhoeft, the Morrill Professor of Agronomy at Iowa State University, was named interim chair of the agronomy department at the university, effective May 16. After 12 years on the faculty at the University of Maine, she joined the fculty at Iowa State University in 1999.

Dr. Wiedenhoeft earned her bachelor’s degree in agronomy from Iowa State University. She holds a Ph.D. in crop physiology from Washington State University.

Lois Agnew, a professor of writing and rhetoric at Syracuse University in New York, has been assigned the additional duties of associate provost for academic programs at the university. Since 2017, Professor Agnew has been associate dean of curriculum, innovation, and pedagogy for the College of Arts and Sciences. She joined the faculty at the university in 2004.

Dr. Agnew holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in English from the University of Texas at Arlington. She earned a Ph.D. in English from Texas Christian University.

Joan Blakey is the new director of the University of Minnesota School of Social Work. An associate professor, her research is focused on child advocacy, protection, and welfare; diversity, equity, and inclusion; justice and corrections; substance use and substance use treatment; and trauma and trauma-informed care.

Dr. Blakey holds a bachelor’s degree and a master of social work degree from the University of Minnesota. She earned a Ph.D. in social work from the University of Chicago.