Ten Women Professors Appointed to New Academic Positions

Maritza Vasquez Reyes has joined the faculty at Georgia State University as an assistant professor in the School of Social Work. She has over a decade of experience in direct social work practice. As a scholar, her research focuses on understanding community supports available to youth facing oppression.

Dr. Vasquez Reyes is a graduate of Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic, where she double-majored in social work and sociology. She holds a master’s degree in sociology from the State University of New York at New Paltz, a master of social work degree from the University at Albany, and a Ph.D. in social work from the University of Connecticut.

Wanda Arrington has been named director of the Myrlie Evers-Williams Honors Program at Alcorn State University in Mississippi. She has over two decades of experience with the university, and currently teaches as an assistant professor of agricultural economics and agribusiness.

Dr. Arrington is a two-time graduate of Alcorn State University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in business administration and master’s degree in agriculture. She holds a Ph.D. in agricultural science from Mississippi State University.

Rita Koganzon has joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as an associate professor in the School of Civic Life and Leadership. Previously, she was the associate director of the Tocqueville Forum on American Ideas and Institutions at the University of Houston. She is the author of Liberal States, Authoritarian Families: Childhood and Education in Early Modern Thought (Oxford University Press, 2021).

Dr. Koganzon holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in government from Harvard University.

Golnaz Arastoopour Irgens has joined the Vanderbilt University faculty as an assistant professor of human-centered technologies in the Peabody College of Education and Human Development. She also serves as director of Vanderbilt’s Inclusive Digital Education and Analytics Lab. Prior to her career in higher education, she taught middle school computer science and high school mathematics.

Dr. Arastoopour Irgens received her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her master’s degree in mathematics education from Columbia University. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in learning sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Jasmine Thum has joined the University of Alabama at Birmingham faculty as an assistant professor in the department of neurosurgery. Prior to her new appointment, she served as a neurosurgical fellow with the University of California, San Francisco and as a neurosurgical resident at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Thum holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biomedical engineering from the University of Southern California. She received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School.

Treisha Peterson has been named a teaching assistant professor in the human development and family sciences program at the University of Arkansas. For the past three years, she has taught as an adjunct assistant professor in the department of human development and family studies at Texas Woman’s University. Outside of academia, she directs her own counseling business.

Dr. Peterson is a graduate of Utah State University, where she majored in family and consumer sciences. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in family studies from Texas Woman’s University.

Monideepa Tarafdar has been named editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Association for Information Systems. Since 2021, she has served as the Charles J. Dockendorff Endowed Professor in the Isenberg School of Management and coordinator of the Ph.D. program in information systems operations and information management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Dr. Tarafdar holds bachelor’s degrees from the University of Calcutta and St. Xavier’s College in Calcutta in India. She earned  a Ph.D. in management information systems from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta.

Nairanjana Dasgupta has been named chair of the department of mathematics and statistics at Washington State University. She has been a faculty member with Washington State for nearly three decades, currently serving as the Boeing Science/Math Education Distinguished Professor in Mathematics and Statistics and director of the data analytics program. She previously served as founding director of the university’s Center for Interdisciplinary Statistical Education and Research.

Dr. Dasgupta is a graduate of Presidency College in India, where she majored in statistics. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in statistics from the University of South Carolina.

Amarda Shehu has been appointed as the inaugural vice president and chief artificial intelligence officer at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. In addition to her new role, she will retain her current positions as a professor of computer science, associate vice president for research for the Institute of Digital InnovAtion, and associate dean for AI research in the College of Engineering. She also serves as co-director of the Center of Excellence in Government Cybersecurity Risk Management and Resilience, as well as the Transdisciplinary Center for Advancing Human-Machine Partnerships.

Dr. Shehu is a graduate of Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York where she double-majored in computer science and mathematics. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in computer science from Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Marcelitte Failla has joined the faculty at North Carolina State University as an assistant professor of religious studies and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. Her current book project investigates how contemporary Black witches employ African diasporic religions for manifestation, healing, and protection from anti-Blackness.

Dr. Failla is a graduate of Hunter College in New York City. She holds a master of fine arts degree in film production from the City University of New York and a Ph.D. in religion from Emory University.