Vanderbilt University Names Eight Women Professors to Endowed Chairs

Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, recently appointed 28 faculty members across a broad range of disciples to endowed chairs. Eight of the endowed chair recipients are women.

Lola Chambless has been named to the George S. Allen Chair in Neurological Surgery. She has been with the university for over a decade, currently serving as director of the neurological surgery residency program with a joint faculty appointment in radiation oncology.

Dr. Chambless is a graduate of Stanford University in California where she majored in biological sciences. She earned her medical degree from Vanderbilt University.

Catherine Fuchs has been named to the Bixler-Johnson-Mayes Chair in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. She first joined the faculty in 1998 and currently serves as director of the Child and Adolescent Consult-Liasion Service.

Dr. Fuchs completed her medical degree at Vanderbilt University.

Emily Greble has been appointed to the Nelson O. Tyrone, Jr. Chair in History. A member of the university faculty since 2017, she conducts research on law and society, Islam in Europe, civil conflict, and local responses to socialism. She is the author of Sarajevo, 1941-1945: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Hitler’s Europe (Cornell University Press, 2011) and Muslims and the Making of Modern Europe (Oxford University Press, 2021).

Dr. Greble is a graduate of the College of William and Mary in Virginia where she majored in history. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in European history from Stanford University.

Dana Nelson holds the Nancy Perot Chair of English. She has been on the Vanderbilt University faculty since 2009, studying the intersection of American literature and government. Her research has led to authoring four books including Commons Democracy: Reading and the Politics of Participation in Early United States (Fordham University Press, 2015) and Bad for Democracy: How the Presidency Undermines the Power of the People (University of Minnesota Press, 2009).

Dr. Nelson received her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree and doctorate from Michigan State University.

Yolanda Pierce has been named to the Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Religion and Literature. She has served as the university’s dean of the Divinity School for the past year. She has authored three books including In My Grandmother’s House: Black Women, Faith, and the Stories We Inherit (Broadleaf Books, 2021).

Dr. Pierce is a graduate of Princeton University. She received her Ph.D. in religion and literature from Cornell University.

Melissa Rose has been appointed to the Mark Wait Dean’s Chair in the Blair School of Music, where she currently serves as dean and professor of piano. She previously served as senior associate dean of academic affairs. Outside of her position with Vanderbilt University, she has performed for over two-decades with the Summerfest Chamber Music Series in Kansas City.

Dr. Rose received her bachelor’s degree in music from West Chester University in Pennsylvania. She holds a master’s degree in piano performance from Yale University and a doctorate in collaborative piano from the University of Michigan.

Lauren Sudeall now holds the David Daniels Allen Distinguished Chair of Law. She joined the university’s faculty last year and currently serves as director of the Vanderbilt Access to Justice Initiative. Previously, she served as professor of law at Georgia State University.

Professor Sudeall is a graduate of Yale University where she majored in political science. She holds a juris doctorate from Harvard University.

Jessica Trounstine has been appointed to the Centennial Chair in the department of political science, where she has taught for the past year. She has previously held faculty positions with the University of California, Merced, Princeton University, and the University of California, San Diego. She is the author of Segregation by Design: Local Politics and Inequality in American Cities (Cambridge University Press, 2018) and Political Monopolies in American Cities: The Rise and Fall of Bosses and Reformers (University of Chicago Press, 2008).

Dr Trounstine is an honors graduate of the University of California, Berkeley were she majored in political science. She holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, San Diego.