Three Women Who Have Been Appointed Chairs of Academic Departments

Lesley Curtis was named chair of the department of health sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine. She has been serving as interim chair since July when the new department was created.

Dr. Curtis is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she majored in economics. She holds a master’s degree in public policy analysis and a Ph.D. in health services research and policy from the University of Rochester in New York.

Mary Taylor is the new chair of the department of pediatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. She is the first woman and the first graduate of the university’s medical school to hold the position. Dr. Taylor joined the faculty at the University of Mississippi in 2011.

Dr. Taylor is a graduate of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She is a 1991 graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine. Dr. Taylor also holds a master’s degree in clinical investigation from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Andria Costello Staniec was appointed chair of the department of civil and environmental engineering at Syracuse University in New York. Dr. Costello Staniec, an associate professor, joined the faculty at Syracuse in 1999. Her research is focused on applied environmental microbiology.

Dr. Costello Staniec is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she majored in applied biology. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in environmental engineering science from the California Institute of technology.