Patricia Smith, professor of creative writing in the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, has received the 2025 National Book Award for Poetry for her collection The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems (Scribner, 2025). Presented annually by the National Book Foundation, the National Book Awards honor the best literature published in the United States, with one award each for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people’s literature.
Professor Smith’s award-winning collection features poems from her previously published collections and new poems that traverse every facet of life, redeeming the landscape of pain, confronting the frightening revelations of history, and disclosing the joyous possibilities of the future. In addition to The Intentions of Thunder, Professor Smith is the author of nine other poetry collections, the children’s book Janna and the Kings (Lee & Low Books, 2003), and Africans in America (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1998) – a companion book to the award-winning PBS documentary of the same name. She is currently working on her first novel and a second children’s picture book.
Alongside her work at Princeton, Professor Smith is an instructor for Cave Canem and the Vermont College of Fine Arts’ post-graduate writing program. She was elected chancellor of the Academy of American Poets in 2023 and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Earlier in her career, she was a distinguished professor at the City University of New York.
Ayana Allen-Handy has been named dean of the School of Education at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. For the past 10 years, she has been a faculty member at Drexel University in Philadelphia, most recently serving as a professor of urban education and chair of the department of policy, organization, and leadership in the School of Education. Her research focuses on the social foundations and social contexts of education, urban teacher education, and youth-led and community-engaged research.
Following more than a year of interim service, Margaret Meserve has been officially named the Edward H. Arnold Dean of the Hesburgh Libraries at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. For the past two years, she has been the university’s vice president and associate provost for academic space and support. A historian of the Italian Renaissance, she also teaches as a professor of history. Her most recent book is 
Michelle B. Hayes is the new dean of the division of education and social sciences at Talladega College in Alabama. She most recently served as executive director of College Admissions Made Possible, a college access and readiness organization headquartered in Birmingham. Previously, she was a professor at Stillman College in Alabama. Her scholarship centers on social emotional learning, transformational leadership, and instructional leadership.
Carolyn K. Clevenger has been named the founding dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Georgia, where she will also teach as a professor in the division of geriatric medicine. She has been serving as a professor of nursing at Emory University and founding director of Integrated Memory Care at Emory Healthcare. An expert in advanced practice nursing, geriatrics, and gerontology, Dr. Clevenger focuses her research on models of care for people living with dementia, psychoeducational programs for dementia family caregivers, and the geriatric health workforce.
Akiko Iwasaki, the Sterling Professor of Immunobiology at Yale University, is the co-winner of the 2025 Keio Medical Science Prize from Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. The award is presented to researchers who have made outstanding and original contributions to the welfare of humanity in the fields of medicine and life sciences.
Julie R. James is the new university controller for Tennessee State University. Her background includes more than two decades of experience in risk management, financial operations, and organizational improvement across corporate, nonprofit, and public accounting sectors. At Tennessee State, she will oversee all accounting operations to ensure accuracy and compliance.
Charlotte Barnes has been named chief human resources officer at Delaware State University. She most recently served as the executive director of human resources for the City of Wilmington, where she worked for the past 37 years. Her previous roles with the city include chief of staff to the Wilmington City Council, special assistant to the mayor, and deputy director of finance.
Kristina Martin has been promoted to director of personnel and administration for the College of Engineering at Boise State University in Idaho. Her background includes over a decade of experience in higher education operations and leadership. Most recently, she served as department manager for Boise State’s department of mechanical and biomedical engineering.
Kimberlee Eberle-Sudré has been named chief of staff to the chancellor at the University of Pittsburgh. She joined the chancellor’s office in February as senior director of strategic initiatives. Before that, she was program director of education at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Earlier in her career, she held various roles at EdTrust, the Maryland Higher Education Commission, the U.S. Department of Education, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and the University of Kansas.
Michelle Shaver is the new chief communications and marketing officer at Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina. Her appointment marks a return to the university, where she previously served as executive director of strategic communications from 2019 to 2021. More recently, she was executive director of strategic marketing and communications at Muskingum University in Concord, Ohio.
Chantell Link is the new associate vice chancellor and chief industry partnerships and career advancement officer for the Lone Star College System in Texas. She has over 20 years of experience in student success, academic affairs, online education, institutional operations, and strategic growth. In her new role, she will lead system-wide efforts to strengthen workforce partnerships, expand career-connected learning, and advance industry-aligned initiatives to prepare students for high-demand careers.
Katrina Rouan has been promoted from interim director to permanent director of the Walter P. Reuther Library and Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University in Detroit. She has been a librarian with the university since 2010, including service as the coordinator for reference services and graduate student assistants. She has also been the subject specialist librarian for the departments of psychology, communication sciences and disorders, and nutrition and food science.
Rebecca S. Graff, associate professor of anthropology and chair of museum studies at Lake Forest College in Illinois, was recently honored at the annual gala of the Society of Architectural Historians. The professional organization recognized Dr. Graff’s “commitment to literally unearthing and telling the stories of Chicago’s varied urban neighborhoods and houses.”
Carolyn Seepersad has been named the Eugene C. Gwaltney, Jr. Chair of the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She first joined the school’s faculty in 2023 and currently leads the TechMade Initiative, an interdisciplinary program that introduces students to engineering design. Before coming to Georgia Tech, Dr. Seepersad was the founding director of the Center for Additive Manufacturing and Design Innovation at the University of Texas at Austin.
Veronica Augustyn was named the Jake and Jennifer Hooks Distinguished Professor in Materials Science and Engineering at North Carolina State University, where she also holds an appointment as a University Faculty Scholar. In her lab, Dr. Augustyn studies how materials store, release, and convert energy, with a focus on the fundamental mechanisms that govern electrochemical performance. Her work contributes to innovations in energy, environmental, electronics, and optical technologies.
Yelena Janjigian, professor of medicine at Cornell University’s Weill Cornell College of Medicine, has been named the Endowed Carroll and Milton Petrie Chair at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She currently serves as the center’s chief of gastrointestinal oncology service. Her clinical practice and research endeavors are focused on improving outcomes for people with esophageal and stomach cancers.
Mary Ann Villarreal has been selected to serve as interim president of California State University, Dominguez Hills. She will begin her new role on January 1.
Laurel Bongiorno has been named the thirteenth president of Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York. She will assume her presidency on July 1, 2026.
Dorothy Bosch Keller, professor emerita at the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, Connecticut, passed away on October 27. She was 84 years old.
Boston College was awarded a $100,000 Accelerator Grant from The New England Prison Education Collaborative to expand the college’s existing Prison Education Program to serve women incarcerated at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Framingham. The program allows incarcerated individuals to take courses and earn credits towards a college degree. Women in the initial cohort will participate in liberal arts courses in creative nonfiction, ethics, theology, and design thinking, all taught by Boston College professors who have experience teaching in prison settings.
The University at Buffalo in New York has received a $3.019 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to test a novel intervention designed to reduce alcohol-involved sexual assault (AISA) risk for college women. Scholars at the university will focus on the friend-based motivational interview (FMI) – a guided conversation with interventionists who will work with existing friend groups to develop personalized prevention skills and learn to identify AISA risk factors. Over 200 pairs of women friends will participate in the study, which will compare the FMI to standardized AISA intervention methods.
The Emory University School of Medicine has received a $2.5 million grant from the Action for Women’s Health Initiative to enhance the school’s Nina Project. Housed within the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, the Nina Project provides culturally responsive therapy, crisis intervention, and community-based programs designed to help women heal from trauma, strengthen resilience, and reconnect with their sense of purpose. The project also conducts research on improving mental health care for women.
Sierra Williams of Scripps College, a women’s liberal arts institution in California, recently received a $457,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a new kind of protein-based weapon to fight drug-resistant bacteria. Williams, an assistant professor of chemistry, and her lab will focus on a group of proteins known as endolysins, which can destroy bacteria by breaking down their cell walls. The project aims to create a fuller picture of these proteins and develop a tool to test how well they work.
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Women in Academia Report regularly publishes a list of new books that may be of interest to our readers. The books included are on a wide variety of subjects and present many different points of view. The opinions expressed in these books do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board of WIAReport. As an Amazon Associate, WIAReport will earn a fraction of revenue from qualifying purchases.
Elisabeth “Betty” Sadoulet, professor emerita at the University of California, Berkeley, passed away on October 17.
Recently, the Rhodes Trust announced the 32 American winners of Rhodes Scholarships for graduate study at Oxford University in England. Rhodes Scholarships provide all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England and may allow funding in some instances for four years. Being named a Rhodes Scholar is considered among the highest honors that can be won by a U.S. college student.
Aruna B. Balasubramanian, from Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, is a senior at Yale University, where she is completing double majors in anthropology and history. Her senior thesis examines the role that the arts can play in rural development and focuses on a Japanese fishing village that has developed a system of art galleries to help boost the local economy. Balasubramanian has published multiple peer-reviewed articles and is the founder and editor-in-chief of the country’s first digital humanities journal for undergraduates. At Oxford, Balasubramanian seeks to obtain a master’s degree in global and area studies.
Sydney E. Barta, from Arlington, Virginia, is a senior at Stanford University, where she majors in bioengineering. She has won multiple medals as a member of the U.S. Paralympic National Team and is the first Paralympian on the Stanford track team. Sydney is the co-president of Stanford’s chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society, and has earned academic distinction across courses in the sciences and humanities. She sings in the Stanford acapella group “Counterpoint.” At Oxford, Barta hopes to complete a graduate course in musculoskeletal sciences.
Yumna A. Dagher, from Ann Arbor, Michigan, graduated in 2025 from the University of Michigan, where she earned bachelor’s degree in English and environment and sustainability. Her senior honors thesis in creative writing received numerous campus awards. She is currently a Dean’s Fellow at the University of Michigan, focused on implementing sustainability initiatives. While an undergraduate, Dagher was the program lead of the university’s sustainable food program. At Oxford, she intends to study for a master’s degree in nature, society and environmental governance followed by a master’s degree in visual, material and museum anthropology.
Emma L.B. Finn, from Annapolis, Maryland, is a senior at Harvard University, where she is completing double majors in mathematics and classics as well as a concurrent master’s degree in statistics. Her Classics thesis explores how developments in the theory of quantification shaped how Greek historians understood their past and future. Finn is active in numerous campus organizations, including coordinating a weekly lunch forum for researchers to discuss machine learning and neuroscience. At Oxford, Emma intends to pursue a master’s degree in statistics, followed by a Ph.D. in statistics and machine learning.
Yael S. Goldstein, from Barrington, Rhode Island, is a senior at Harvard University completing a degree in philosophy. Her senior thesis examines philosophical justifications for a right to housing, and she has worked extensively on housing issues while an undergraduate, including as a guest services director and case manager at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter. Goldstein is an accomplished musician who performs oboe and English horn with the Harvard Bach Society Orchestra. She also volunteers as a classical music host for Harvard’s student radio station. In England, Goldstein intends to pursue a degree in philosophy.
Alice L. Hall, from Philadelphia, is a senior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is majoring in chemical engineering and Spanish. She was elected MIT student body president, where she leads an executive committee of more than 40 student leaders. As a leader in the MIT D-Lab, she collaborated with a women’s collective in Ghana to design sustainably powered tools for shea nut processing. She is a member of the women’s varsity basketball team. At Oxford, Hall intends to pursue a Ph.D. in engineering science.
Victoria M. Harris, from Houston, is a senior at the University of Chicago, where she majors in anthropology and creative writing. Her academic work as an archaeologist aims to excavate the legacy of the African diaspora. She has conducted archaeological excavations across the U.S., from Tulsa to New Orleans, and has served as a research assistant for the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies and the Chicago History Museum. Harris’ creative writing, including a selection of poems and short stories, has been published in Blacklight Magazine. She is also an accomplished violinist who performs with the University Chamber Orchestra of the University of Chicago. In England, Harris will pursue a master’s degree in African studies followed by a master’s degree in archaeology.
Esmeralda Abreau Jerez, from the Bronx in New York City, graduated from Dartmouth College in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in geography and quantitative social science. Her senior honors thesis, which examined labor organizing among home health aides in New York City, received high honors. While at Dartmouth, she was an organizer and steward with the Student Workers’ Collective and founded a women’s health committee serving migrant farm workers. She is currently working at Pfizer Inc., where she focuses on research on patient outcomes and quality of life. As a Rhodes Scholar, Jerez plans to complete a master’s degree in global health sciences and epidemiology and a master’s degree in health service improvement and evaluation.
Doriane R. Keiser, from Wolf Point, Montana, is a senior at Montana State University, where she is double-majoring in psychology and community health. A Udall Scholar and a McNair Scholar, Keiser has completed numerous research projects, including examining how peer relationships influence academic success and how Native American and Alaska Native students experience cultural exchange. As a student government representative, Doriane worked to expand funding to mental health programs and increase access to low-cost legal services on campus. She also mentored middle-school students on reservations through her work with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. At Oxford, Keiser intends to complete a master’s degree in evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation and a master’s degree in comparative social policy.
Sofia I. Lara, from San Fernando, California, is a senior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is completing a major in biological engineering. Her research focuses on cell circuits and complex tissue immunology, and she is particularly interested in how sex variation shapes disease pathways. Lara is president of MIT’s Baker House residence. She is also co-captain of the university’s archery team, music director for the Catholic Community, and volunteers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. As a Rhodes Scholar, Lara will seek to earn a Ph.D. in clinical medicine.
Kylene J. Monaghan, from Blacksburg, Virginia, is a senior at Sewanee, The University of the South in Tennessee, where she is majoring in mathematics and physics. She is ranked first in her class and has interned at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider and worked as a research assistant for courses in quantum computing and thermal engineering. She is the captain of the Sewanee varsity soccer team and president of the Sewanee Society of Physics students. At Oxford, she intends to pursue a master’s degree in research in engineering science and a master’s degree in quantum technologies.
Florence N. Onyiuke, from Altamonte Springs, Florida, is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is completing a dual degree in international studies and business. Her senior thesis focuses on the informal economy and socioeconomic mobility and is based on ethnographic interviews that she conducted in Spanish with West African scrap metal collectors in Barcelona. Onyiuke founded the Community Research Initiative to improve data access for Black-owned businesses and nonprofits in West Philadelphia and has interned at J.P. Morgan and McKinsey & Company. At Oxford, she intends to pursue a master’s degree in African studies, followed by a master’s degree in sustainability, enterprise and the environment.
Keidy L. Palma Ramirez, from El Paso, Texas, is a senior at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, pursuing a double major in education studies and social analysis and research. Ramirez is a campus leader in advocating for immigrant and refugee students and peer counselor and tutor at Brown and in the surrounding community. She served as an intern in the office of U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar and was awarded the Royce Fellowship to support an original project focused on youth living along the U.S.-Mexico border. In England, Ramirez will study for a master’s degree in migration studies and a master’s degree in social data science.
Sophia J. Wang, from Woodbridge, Connecticut, received a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2024. She currently works in the country of Bhutan, leading a sustainability policy taskforce. She is also a founding researcher at a new laboratory in Japan and a research associate at a venture capital fund focused on space technologies. During the summer following her graduation from MIT, she cycled more than 4,000 miles as part of MIT Spokes, a program that runs learning festivals across the country. At Oxford, Wang intends to complete a master’s degree in mathematical and theoretical physics, followed by a master’s degree in global governance and diplomacy.
The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University recently acquired an archival collection documenting the life of the acclaimed American poet Sylvia Plath.
Alison Ellen Isenberg, professor of history at Princeton University, passed away on October 23. She was 63 years old.
Dr. Isenberg’s research led to several scholarly publications, including 
Tori Young has joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University in Nashville as an assistant professor of the practice in the department of human and organizational development. She is an expert in mental health therapy for children and families affected by abuse and trauma. In addition to her professional work as a therapist, she previously taught counseling courses at Columbus State University.
Sarah A. Font was appointed professor of social work and granted tenure at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Font’s research examines the impacts of the child welfare system and the criminal and juvenile legal systems on children and families. She previously spent nine years on the faculty at Pennsylvania State University as part of the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network in the department of sociology and criminology.
Lizette Zietsman has been named director of the computational modeling and data analytics (CMDA) program and associate director of the Academy of Data Science at Virginia Tech. She previously served as associate director of the CMDA program and has led the Academy of Data Science on an interim basis since July. A mathematics professor, she helped to develop Virginia Tech’s new master’s degree in data science.
Kristina Bowdrie is a new assistant professor of communication sciences at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to teaching, she leads the university’s Human Ecology and Auditory Research Laboratory. Her research focuses on how family systems and social environments affect clinical outcomes for individuals navigating hearing loss.
Ana Daugherty has been appointed director of the Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She has been a faculty member with the institute since 2018 and holds an affiliate appointment with the translational neuroscience program. As a cognitive neuroscientist, she specializes in aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and related dementia.
Swetha Regunathan is a new assistant professor of visual studies at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. A Philadelphia-based filmmaker and writer, Dr. Regunathan creates character-driven fiction films that explore themes of nostalgia, longing, and shifting identities. Her work frequently engages hybrid docuforms and mixed-media techniques to expand the on-screen representation of South Asian Americans.
Andrea Hickerson is director of the newly established Center for Information Advantage and Effectiveness at the University of Mississippi, where she is dean of the School of Journalism and New Media. Before joining the Ole Miss faculty, she was an associate dean in the College of Information and Communications and director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina. Her scholarship focuses on journalism routines with an emphasis on technology use.
The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia recently announced the recipients of the 2026 Benjamin Franklin Medals. Founded in 1824, the prestigious honor is presented annually to recognize “the greatest minds in science, engineering, and technology.”
Wendy Laurel Freedman, the John and Marion Sullivan University Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, received the Benjamin Franklin Medical in Physics “for scientific investigations that established precision measurements of the expansion rate of the universe, and for leading efforts to make the next generation of these measurements even more precise.”
Dedre Gentner, the Alice Gabrielle Twilight Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University, received the Benjamin Franklin Medical in Computer and Cognitive Science “for elucidating the unique power of human thought, including its roots in the acquisition and use of language, metaphors, maps, and analogies, and for charting new ways to support and enhance these skills.”
Karen C. Seto, the Frederick C. Hixon Professor of Geography and Urbanization Science at the Yale School of the Environment, received the Benjamin Franklin Medical in Earth and Environmental Science “for pioneering work integrating satellite imagery, modeling methods, and social sciences to analyze the consequences of urbanization, land use, and global environmental change.”
Colleen Hallagan Preuninger is the inaugural dean of spiritual and religious life at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. She brings 15 years of experience in campus ministry and spiritual leadership to her new role. Dr. Preuninger’s previous work in higher education includes service at Syracuse University in New York, Shenandoah University in Virginia, and Stanford University in California.
Omayra Arocho was appointed assistant vice president of student services and dean of the Center for Academic Success at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. She previously served as the associate dean for student success and engagement in the university’s College of Human Development, Culture, and Media. Earlier in her career, she held various academic and student affairs positions with Montclair State University, Rutgers University, and Union County College.
Tammy Burke has been named dean of Montana Technological University’s Highlands College – the university’s center for career-ready and transfer programs, including certificates, associate’s degrees, and professional training programs. Burke began her teaching career nearly three decades ago as an adjunct instructor and tenured faculty member at community colleges across Wyoming. She previously taught anatomy and physiology at Helena College in Montana.
In her scholarly work, Dr. Albarracín studies the impact of communication and persuasion on human behavior and the formation of beliefs, attitudes, and goals, particularly those that are socially beneficial. She is also interested in finding ways of intervening to promote positive social interactions and public policies. Throughout her career, Dr. Albarracín has published some 200 journal articles and book chapters, garnering over 20,000 citations. She is the author of six books, including 
Debra Marks has been promoted to vice president of philanthropic giving and alumni relations for the New Mexico State University Foundation. She has been with the foundation for the past five years, serving in roles such as assistant vice president of philanthropic giving, associate director of alumni relations, and director of major gifts. Earlier, she was director of the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra for seven years.
Kenisha Ringgold is the new chief enterprise risk officer at Delaware State University. In addition to her new appointment, she will retain her current role as the university’s deputy general counsel. Before joining the Delaware State administration in 2020, she was deputy attorney general for the Delaware Department of Justice.
Olivia Miller was appointed executive director of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon. She comes to her new role from the University of Arizona, where she was director of the Museum of Art. Earlier in her tenure at Arizona, she was curator of exhibitions and curator of education.
Lloyd Young has been promoted from interim executive director to permanent executive director of the da Vinci Center for Innovation at Virginia Commonwealth University, making her the first woman to lead the center. In her first role with the da Vinci Center leadership team in 2020, she led brand and communications strategy. She is also co-founder of the center’s Shift Retail Lab.
Sarah Edwards has been selected to serve as interim vice chancellor for institutional integrity and general counsel at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Edwards first joined the university’s Office of Legal Affairs in 2012. Currently, she serves as associate vice chancellor for legal affairs and deputy general counsel.
Patricia M. Lynch has been named associate vice chancellor and chief human resources officer for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has served in this capacity on an interim basis since January 2025. A staff member since 2017, Lynch has held a series of increasingly senior roles in human resources, including director of equal employment opportunity and affirmative action and executive director of human resources.
Aisha Jackson is the inaugural chief information and strategy executive at the University of California, Davis. Since 2022, she has been the vice chancellor for information technology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Earlier, she spent 12 years at the University of Colorado Boulder, most recently serving as the assistant vice provost and assistant vice chancellor for academic technology and student success.
Linda Mauro has been promoted to associate vice president of strategic partnerships at Berkeley College in New York City. She began her career with the college in 2001 as director of adult admissions. Over the past two decades, she has served in several leadership roles, including associate vice president of enrollment and campus operating officer of both the Paramus, New Jersey, and New York City campuses.
Phenicia McCullough was promoted to vice president for human resources and inclusive excellence at California State University, Fullerton. She has served in the role on an interim basis since April 2024. With over 20 years of professional experience, she previously served in human resources positions with California State University, Dominguez Hills and the California State University Chancellor’s Office.
Sylvia Carey-Butler is the new vice president for inclusive excellence at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. She comes to her new role from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where she was vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Previously, she held senior leadership positions with Kennesaw State University in Georgia and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Rebecca Gayle Howell, associate professor at the University of Arkansas, has received the 2025 Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry from the literary magazine The Sewanee Review. Presented annually, the award honors a distinguished poet in the maturity of their career.
Catherine Dulac is the new Xander University Professor at Harvard University. A faculty member in the department of molecular and cellular biology since 1996, she previously held the Samuel W. Morris University Professorship. In her research, she uses molecular, genetic, and electrophysiological techniques to explore the molecular and neuronal basis of instinctive social behaviors in mice.
Catherine E. Lang was named the inaugural Barbara J. Norton Professor of Physical Therapy at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She is associate director of the university’s movement science program and a full professor of neurology and occupational therapy. As a leading scholar in the field of stroke recovery and rehabilitation, Dr. Lang has conducted extensive research on the use of wearable movement sensors to quantitatively measure patients’ movement in daily life.
Talia Young has been named the William H. and Johanna A. Harris Professor of Environmental Studies and Entrepreneurial Studies at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. She previously was a visiting assistant professor of environmental studies at the college. Outside of academia, she is the founder and director of Fishadelphia, a Philadelphia-based community seafood program that connects diverse families with regional seafood producers.
Boel Fransson has been appointed as the William R. Jones Endowed Chair in Companion Animal Medicine and Surgery at Washington State University. She first joined the faculty in 2006 and currently serves as head of the small animal surgery section at the university’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Her research centers on the area of minimally invasive surgery, with special expertise in simulation training of laparoscopic skills.
Flora Cassen has been named the inaugural Lavine Family Director of the Brandeis Center for Jewish Studies at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Slated to begin her role on January 1, she will also serve as director of the Sarnat Center for the Study of Anti-Jewishness and hold a faculty appointment in the Near Eastern and Judaic studies department. Currently, Dr. Cassen is an associate professor at Washington University and a senior faculty member of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America.
Allison McLarty is the new General Ting Feng Cheng Endowed Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery in the School of Medicine at Stony Brook University in New York. A faculty member since 1997, she specializes in adult cardiac and thoracic surgery. She has held numerous leadership roles, including chief of thoracic surgery at the Northport VA Medical Center and associate program director for the general surgery residency program.
The Utah Board of Higher Education has selected Leslie Durham to serve as interim president of Weber State University in Odgen, Utah. She began her new role on November 10.
Toneyce Sheree Randolph is the new chief academic officer at Bennett College, a liberal arts educational institution for women in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The L’Oréal Groupe, the world’s leading beauty company, produces over 35 beauty brands. L’Oréal USA, the company’s largest division, generates more than $11 billion in sales annually.
Rebecka J. Sepela is a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University. She specializes in collaborative, curiosity-guided research into the intricate ways molecules from the natural world interact with animal chemical receptors. Her work aims to illuminate how these interactions influence animal physiology and behavior. Currently, she is studying the octopus as a unique research model to understand how molecules from our invisible microbial world shape the everyday experiences of animals. Dr. Sepela is a graduate of Miami University in Ohio, where she majored in biochemistry. She earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California, Davis.
Kaitlyn A. Webster is a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School. She studies the rapidly evolving Mexican tetra fish to research fundamental topics in reproductive biology: male and female development from the same biological starting point, the impact of extreme environmental changes on fertility, and species-specific attraction of sperm and eggs. Dr. Webster is a graduate of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she majored in biology. She earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Georgia Squyres is the Damon Runyon postdoctoral fellow in the Biology and Biological Engineering Division at the California Institute of Technology. She investigates the complex world of bacterial communities, specifically biofilms. Dr. Squyres employs advanced microscopy to observe these biofilms in real-time, meticulously documenting where, when, how, and why they perform their designated functions. Dr. Squyres has a bachelor’s degree in biophysics from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Harvard University.
Kaveeta Kaw is a postdoctoral researcher at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. She utilizes 3D bioprinting technology to model and gain a deeper understanding of pulmonary arterial hypertension, a severe lung disease. She aims to significantly accelerate the discovery of new treatments and improve patient outcomes by tailoring therapies precisely to the unique biology of each individual. Dr. Kaw is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in neurobiology. She holds a medical doctorate and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas Health in Houston.
Sydney Aten is a research fellow in neurology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. She focuses on understanding the body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythms. Her research specifically targets female core body temperature and its relation to fertility, including challenges posed by night-shift work. Her research seeks to lay a robust foundation for utilizing body temperature as an insightful tool to better comprehend, monitor, and understand female fertility across diverse populations. Dr. Aten holds a bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular neuroscience, a master’s degree, and a Ph.D. in neuroscience, all from Ohio State University.
A team of scientists at Michigan State University have received a $3.7 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to examine the understudied period of perimenopause and its impact women’s mental health. The project is one of the first of its kind to investigate how hormonal changes during midlife might influence psychosis and other mental health outcomes.
J. F. Drake State Community and Technical College in Huntsville, Alabama recently received a $500,000 gift to establish the Ellenae Fairhurst Endowed Scholarship fund. Named for the pioneering automotive executive and entrepreneur Ellenae Hart-Fairhust, the endowment will provide a permanent source of financial support for Drake Students, with a particular focus on assisting mothers who are pursuing their education full- or part-time.
Tufts University in Boston has received a $4 million gift from Jeff and Linda Moslow to launch the Tufts Women’s Health and Menopause Initiative. The funding will support two endowed professorships – one in the School of Medicine and one in the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy – whose holders will co-direct the initiative. The program aims to advance clinical care, education, and research in novels way that improve women’s health across the lifespan.
The board of regents of the University of Colorado has announced the appointment of seven scholars to the rank of Distinguished Professors, the highest honor for faculty in the four-campus system. According to the university, Distinguished Professors are tenured faculty members who demonstrate exemplary performance in research or creative work; a record of excellence in promoting learning and student attainment of knowledge and skills; and outstanding service to the profession, the university, and its affiliates.
Kristen A. Carpenter is the Council Tree Professor of Law and director of the American Indian Law Program at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder. Before entering academia, Professor Carpenter clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit and was an attorney at Hill & Barlow in Boston. Her scholarship – spanning topics from sacred site protection and cultural property to tribal jurisdiction and self-determination – has influenced courts, legislatures, agencies and international bodies. Professor Carpenter is a graduate of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, and earned a juris doctorate at Harvard Law School.
Marcia Douglas is a professor of English and College Professor of Distinction at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is also the associate chair of the creative writing program. Professor Douglas is an internationally acclaimed novelist, poet, and performer whose work focuses on Afro-Caribbean and diasporic literature. She is the author of several books, including 
Jade Morton is the Helen and Hubert Croft Professor in the department of aerospace engineering sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder and the director of the university’s Satellite Navigation and Sensing Laboratory. She previously taught at Colorado State University and Miami University. Professor Morton is an internationally renowned expert in satellite navigation, remote sensing, and space weather. Her pioneering research at the intersection of aerospace engineering and atmospheric science has transformed how GPS and the broader family of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are used. Dr. Morton is a graduate of Nanjing University in China, where she majored in physics. She holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Pennsylvania State University.
Martha Hollis Calhoun Wintner, longtime lecturer of German and English at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, passed away on July 9. She was 87 years old.
Dawn Lindsay, president of Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland, has announced her intent to retire on June 30, 2026.