New Faculty Roles at Major Universities for Seven Women

Wanda Heading-Grant was named Distinguished Service Professor in the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, effective April 1. She will also serve as the inaugural vice provost for diversity, equity, and inclusion and chief diversity officer at the university. She has been serving as vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion and as a clinical associate professor in the College of Education and Social Services at the University of Vermont.

Dr. Heading-Grant earned a bachelor’s degree in social work and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Vermont. She also holds a master of social work degree from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York.

Hope M. Anderson is a new clinical assistant professor of Spanish in the School of International Letters and Culture at Arizona State University. She was an assistant professor of Spanish at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She is the author of Blended Basic Language Courses: Design, Pedagogy, and Implementation (Routledge, 2018).

Dr. Anderson is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Indianapolis, where she majored in Spanish and music. She holds three master’s degrees. Dr. Anserson received a Ph.D. in second language acquisition and teaching from the University of Arizona.

Julia Ballenger, a professor in the department of educational leadership at Texas A&M University-Commerce, has been selected to become a Regents Professor. The award is the highest honor bestowed to faculty members in the Texas A&M System. She joined the faculty at Texas A&M University-Commerce in 2012 after teaching at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, and Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth.

Dr. Ballenger holds a bachelor’s degree in special education and psychology and a master’s degree in elementary special education from what is now Texas A&M University-Commerce. She earned a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Samar S. Ali has joined the faculty of Vanderbilt University as a research professor in political science and law. Most recently, she co-founded and served as president and CEO of Millions of Conversations, a nonprofit organization that aims to unite Americans around common values for a shared future by fostering dialogue among those who hold different opinions, views, or beliefs.

A native of Waverly, Tennessee, Ali holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a juris doctorate from Vanderbilt University.

Vivian Ibrahim, the Croft Associate Professor of History and International Studies at the University of Mississippi, was appointed director of the Office of National Scholarship Advisement at the university. She had been serving as interim director and has been on the faculty since 2011. She is the author of The Copts of Egypt: Challenges of Modernisation and Identity (I.B. Tauris, 2010).

Dr. Ibrahim earned a Ph.D. at the University of London in England.

Nichole Chapel Anderson was recently hired as an assistant professor of behavior and welfare at the Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine in Amarillo. She spent the last two years as an assistant teaching professor at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Dr. Anderson earned her bachelor’s degrees in animal science and equine sciences and a master’s degree in animal science with an emphasis on animal welfare from North Dakota State University in 2014. She holds a Ph.D. in animal science from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Anne Hubbell, professor of communication studies at New Mexico State University, has been assigned added duties as associate dean of the university’s William Conroy Honors College. Her research and teaching focuses on social justice issues.

Dr Hubbell is a graduate of Central Michigan University, where she majored in communication. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in communication from Michigan State University.