A Trio of Women Appointed to Endowed Professorships at Universities

Kali Thomas has been named the inaugural Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Professor in Aging and Community Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She first joined the university last year as a professor in the School of Nursing and the associate director of health services research in the Center for Equity on Aging. In her research, she focuses on identifying ways to improve the quality of life of older adults needing long-term services and support.

Dr. Thomas is a graduate of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she majored in human development. She holds a master’s degree in gerontology and a Ph.D. in aging studies from the University of South Florida.

Dorceta Taylor has been named the Wangari Maathai Professor of Environmental Justice at Yale University. A faculty member since 2021, she currently serves as the inaugural senior associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Yale School of the Environment. She has authored several publications on environmental justice, including her most recent book The Rise of the American Conservation Movement: Power, Privilege, and Environmental Protection (Duke University Press, 2016).

Dr. Taylor holds a master’s degree from Yale’s department of sociology, as well as a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the Yale School of the Environment.

Kristin Javorsky has been named the inaugural Dr. Susan McLaren Brooks Endowed Elementary Education Professor at Mississippi State University. She has been a faculty member with the university’s College of Education for the past decade. As a scholar, she researches early literacy acquisition, particularly as it pertains to emerging technologies, pre-teacher preparation, and public policy for early childhood education.

Dr. Javorsky is a graduate of the University of South Florida, where she majored in mass communications with an emphasis on public relations. She holds a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction and a Ph.D. in educational studies with an emphasis on language, literacy, and culture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.