“We know that women and men age differently; the challenge is understanding why,” said Jennifer Ailshire, co-director of the new center. “By bringing together expertise that has traditionally been separated, GeroSCORE will help uncover how biology, environment and life experiences combine to shape aging.”
The women who have been selected for new academic roles are Colleen Murphy at the University of Illinois, Nathalia Jaramillo at Wayne State University, Amy Rector at Virginia Commonwealth University, Jennifer Detlor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Lan Luo at the University of Southern California, Stephanie Bonnes at the University of New Haven, and Tracy Fasolino at Kennesaw State University.
The University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine has partnered with Norvatis to expand access to early breast cancer detection among women from underserved communities in Los Angeles County. In addition to providing direct care, the partnership will focus on leveraging data science to identify gaps in healthcare access and develop solutions.
Dr. Howard joins Spelman from Ohio State University, where she has been serving as dean of the College of Engineering. She is a nationally recognized expert in robotics, artificial intelligence, and human-centered technology.
The Association for Research in Otolaryngology recently honored Ksenia Gnedeva, assistant professor at the University of Southern California, for her research on the development and regeneration of sensory hearing cells in the inner ear.
The appointments are Chanita Hughes-Halbert at the University of Southern California, Tanzeem Choudhury at Cornell University, Kathryn Kloepper at Mercer University, Amanda Geidel at Concordia University Nebraska, Rita Ryan at Marshall University, and Dora Malech at Johns Hopkins University.
Mechthild Tegeder of Washington State University, María P. Aranda of the University of Southern California, Andrea Hohmann of Indiana University, and Rupali Chandar of the University of Toledo have all been granted prestigious faculty titles. Professor Karin Öberg was named senior vice provost for faculty at Harvard and Professor Tonya Peeples was appointed a special adviser to the provost at Penn State.
In 1995, Dr. McPhail was named the first woman and first African American president of Cypress College in California, where she served for three years. Over two decades later, she served as president of St. Augustine's University in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Dr. Dorr was a professor of education at the University of California, Los Angeles for more than three decades. During this time, she spent 13 years as dean of the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. She later served five years as provost of the University of California System.
Dr. Lassar served as director of the University of Denver's School of Accountancy for 15 years. Earlier in her career, she directed the School of Accounting at Florida International University.
The National Academy of Education has elected 19 distinguished education scholars and leaders to its membership. Of the 19 new members of the National Academy of Education, 12 are women.
The University of Southern California has released new data on women's representation among directors of the top-grossing films in the United States. In 2025, only 8.1 percent of the 100 top-performing movies were directed by women, which is a seven-year low for top-performing women directors.
