Six Women Scholars Who Have Been Assigned New Roles in Higher Education

Preeti Sivasankar, professor and head of the department of speech, language, and hearing Sciences at Purdue University in Indiana, has been given the added duties of assistant vice president for strategic health research. Her research focuses on voice disorders and laryngeal physiology. She joined the faculty at Purdue in 2005.

Dr. Sivasankar earned a Ph.D. in communication sciences and disorders from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Stefanie Johnson, an associate professor of organizational leadership and information analytics in the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder, has been named the new director of the university’s Center for Leadership. Dr. Johnson is the author of Inclusify: The Power of Uniqueness and Belonging to Build Innovative Teams (Harper Business, 2020).

Professor Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Claremont McKenna College in California. She holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology from Rice University in Houston.

Lynda Gardner was named chair of the department of pediatrics at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Georgia. Dr. Gardner also serves as director of the Pediatric Residency Training Program and is credited with significantly increasing the board pass rate for the program, as well as expanding subspecialty opportunities for pediatric residents. Dr. Gardner continues to direct the Community Pediatrics Rotation, which focuses on the social determinants of health and health disparities.

Dr. Gardner earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and a medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed her residency in pediatrics at Emory University in Atlanta.

Lorann Stallones, epidemiologist and professor in the department of psychology at Colorado State University, has been named director of the High Plains Intermountain Center for Agricultural Health and Safety. The centern has been continuously funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more than 30 years. Her research has focused on the role of pesticide exposure in the pathway to suicidal behavior in farmers.

Dr. Stallones received a bachelor’s degee in cultural anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She then studied at the University of Texas School of Public Health, earning a master of public health degree and a Ph.D. in epidemiology.

Kim Dooley has been appointed associate dean for faculty affairs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University. A professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, she previously served as associate dean for academic operations.

Dr. Dooley received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in educational curriculum and instruction and her doctoral degree in educational human resource development – all from Texas A&M.

Laurie Cutting, the Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor and professor of special education, psychology and human development, electrical and computer engineering, radiology and pediatrics, has been appointed associate provost in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Professor Cutting is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., where she majored in literature. She holds a master’s degree in communication sciences and disorders from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.