Seven Women Faculty Members Granted Emerita Status at Vanderbilt University

At the recent commencement exercises at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, 28 retiring faculty members were honored for their years of service and were awarded emerita or emeritus status. Among these 28 retiring faculty members, seven are women.

Cheryl M. Coffin was named professor emerita of pathology, microbiology, and immunology. She was the Ernest W. Goodpasture Professor of Investigative Pathology for Translational Research. Dr. Coffin is the current president-elect of the Society for Pediatric Pathology. A graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine, Dr. Coffin earned her medical degree at the University of Vermont.

Janie Daddario was appointed associate professor of nursing emerita. She became a faculty member at the School of Nursing in 1983 and served for 19 years as director of the Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner Program. Daddario is a graduate of Villanova University in Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree in nursing from Boston University.

Connie Vinita Dowell was named dean of libraries emerita. She was named the university’s first dean of libraries in 2009. Earlier, she served as dean of library and information access at San Diego State University in California. Dowell is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, where he double majored in communication and social work. She holds a master of library and information science degree from Vanderbilt University.

Esther Eisenberg was appointed professor of obstetrics and gynecology, emerita. She joined the faculty of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 1992. Dr. Eisenberg is the co-author of Hysterectomy: Exploring Your Options (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003). Dr. Eisenberg is a graduate of Stony Brook University in New York and the Albert Einstein Medical College of Yeshiva University in The Bronx, New York.

Marilyn Friedman is the W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy Emerita. She joined the faculty at Vanderbilt in 2009. Professor Friedman is the author of several books including What Are Friends For? Feminist Perspectives on Personal Relationships and Moral Theory (Cornell University Press, 1993) and Autonomy, Gender, Politics: Studies in Feminist Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 2003). Dr. Friedman is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario.

Geraldine G. Miller was named professor of medicine emerita. Dr. Miller was appointed associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt in 1991 and promoted to professor of medicine in 1998. Earlier, she served on the faculty at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and then the Baylor College of Medicine. Professor Miller is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she majored in biology. She earned her medical degree at the University of California, San Diego.

Molly F. Miller is retiring from her post as professor of earth and environmental sciences and will assume emerita status. She joined the faculty at Vanderbilt in 1977. A former Peace Corps volunteer in Africa. Dr. Miller is a graduate of the College of Wooster in Ohio. She holds a master’s degree from George Washington University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.