Author Archive for Editor
In Memoriam: Sally Miller Gearhart, 1931-2021
In 1973, Dr. Gearhart was hired by San Francisco State University, where she became the first open lesbian to be granted tenure at a major university in the United States. There, she played a major role in developing one of the first women and gender studies programs in the nation.
Five Women Scholars Who Have Been Named to Dean Positions in Higher Education
Taking on new roles as deans are Jin Wang at Florida State University, Carla Panzella at the University of Pittsburgh, Tywana Hemby at Voorhees College in Denmark, South Carolina, Ashley C. Benson at Luther College in Decorak, Iowa, and Sabine Heinhorst at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Promotions and Appointments for Seven Women Faculty Members at Colleges and Universities
Taking on New roles are Priscilla Meléndez at Trinity College in Connecticut, Rachel E. Bernard at Amherst College in Massachusetts, Ashli Brown at Mississippi State University, Lauren Clare at the University of Arkansas, Elsa A. Olivetti at MIT, Mari Ostendorf at the University of Washington, and Eugenia L. Weiss at the University of Nevada
Yale’s Sharon Hammes-Schiffer Recognized for Her Pioneering Work in Chemistry Research
The Willard Gibbs Award, established by the American Chemical Society in 1910, is named for pioneering Yale scientist Josiah Willard Gibbs. Past winners include Marie Curie and Linus Pauling. The award honors pioneering work that opens new fields of chemistry research.
A Quartet of Women Scholars Who Have Been Appointed to Head Schools at Major Universities
Gulsah Akar was appointed head of the School of City and Regional Planning at Georgia Tech and Karen C. Spence is the new director of the School of Architecture at Mississippi State University. Also, Tusty ten Bensel was named the director of the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Tijana Rajh will lead the School of Molecular Sciences at Arizona State University.
Ann Robinson Honored by the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children
Dr. Robinson serves as founding director of the Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, which is celebrating its 20-year anniversary. It is one of only 25 centers in the nation dedicated to the development of gifted students and is also home to the university’s graduate programs in gifted and talented education.
Eights Women Who Have Been Appointed to New Administrative Positions in Higher Education
Here is this week’s roundup of women who have been appointed to new administrative positions at colleges and universities throughout the United States.
National Council on Problem Gambling’s Lifetime Achievement Award Presented to Rachel Volberg
Rachel Volberg is a research professor in the University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences. In 1988, she was the first investigator to receive funding from the National Institutes of Health to examine the prevalence of problem gambling in the United States.
Three Women Faculty Members Named Chairs of Their Academic Departments
Sheila Ross has been promoted to chair of the electrical engineering and computer science department at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. KMarie King was recently appointed to serve as the chair of the department of surgery at Albany Medical College and Michelle Baack was appointed chair of the department of pediatrics at the Sanford School of Medicine of the University of South Dakota.
New Data Shows That Men Outperform Women on the Architect Registration Examination
For the first time, the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards has released demographic data on passage rates for its Architect Registration Examination, which is required for licensure throughout the United States. The passage rate for women was significantly lower than the rate for men on several of the six sections of the examination.
Sheila Edwards Lange Chosen to Be the Next Chancellor of the University of Washington-Tacoma
Dr. Edwards Lange has been serving as president of Seattle Central College. She was the vice president for minority affairs and diversity for the University of Washington from 2007 to 2015. Dr. Edwards Lange is scheduled to become chancellor at the University of Washington-Tacoma on September 16.
Emergency Room Patients Attended by a Woman Physician Have Lower Mortality Rates
The study included more than 100,000 patients who were admitted to a general internal medicine service through the emergency department. The study found that 4.8 percent of patients of women physicians died in the hospital. For patients who had a primary doctor who was a man, 5.2 percent died in the hospital.
The College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California, Names Martha Garcia as Its Next President
Dr. Garcia has been serving as the Superintendent/President of Imperial Valley College in Imperial, California. She has been employed in the California Community College System since 1999. She is expected to become president of the College of the Desert on August 20.
American Association of University Women Examines the Gender Pay Gap and How to Eliminate It
In 2019, men had a median income of $57,456, while women had a median income of $47,299 — a wage gap of 18 percent. Based on recent progress, the AAUW report calculates that White women will reach pay parity with men by the year 2069. But for Black women, the trend suggests that they won’t reach wage parity until 2369, nearly 250 years from now.
La Jerne Terry Cornish to Lead Ithaca College for the 2021-22 Academic Year
Dr. Cornish has been serving as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Ithaca College since 2018. Earlier, she was associate provost for undergraduate studies at Goucher College in Baltimore. She joined the faculty at Goucher in 1998 as an instructor of English.
In Memoriam: Sheila Tobias, 1935-2021
In 1967, Tobias she appointed assistant to the vice president for academic affairs at Cornell University. In 1970 she was named associate provost at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where she led efforts to transition the once all-male school into a coeducational institution. Tobias’ writings and research focused on women’s anxiety toward pursuing math and science fields.
Online Articles of Interest to WIAReport Readers
Each week, Women in Academia Report will provide links to online articles that may be of interest to our readers. Here are this week’s selections.
Recent Books of Interest to Women Scholars
Women in Academia Report regularly publishes a list of new books that may be of interest to our readers. Here are the latest selections.
Grants or Gifts Relating to Women in Higher Education
Here is this week’s news of grants and gifts that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.
Seven Women Who Have Been Appointed Deans at Colleges and Universities
The new deans are Mary Anderson at the University of West Florida, Katherine Whitaker at Voorhees College in South Carolina, Ana Franco-Watkins at Auburn University in Alabama, Martha Peterson at the University of Kentucky, Allyssa L. Harris at Prairie View &AM University in Texas, Ellen Weinauer at the University of Maine, and Mona Dugo at Northwestern University in Illinois.
In Memoriam: Barbara Barnard Smith, 1920-2021
After completing her master’s degree in music literature in 1945 at the University of Rochester, Smith took a position at the University of Hawaii to teach piano and music theory in the newly established music department. In 1957, she taught the university’s first course on non-Western music.
Eleven Women Faculty Members Who Have Been Promoted or Are Taking on New Roles in Higher Education
Here is this week’s listing of women faculty members from colleges and universities throughout the United States who have been appointed to new positions, have been assigned new duties, or have been promoted.
University of Wisconsin Scholar Wins the Callaway Prize for the Best Book on Drama or Theater
Aparna Bhargava Dharwadker, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been awarded the 2020 Callaway Prize. The prize, which carries a cash award of $9,000, is given by the department of English at New York University for the best book on drama or theatre published during the previous two years by an American author.
Colleges and Universities Appoint Ten Women to Administrative Positions
Here is this week’s roundup of women who have been appointed to new administrative positions at colleges and universities throughout the United States.
Susan Ferguson of Grinnell College Honored by the American Sociological Association
Susan Ferguson, professor of sociology at Grinnell College in Iowa, has been awarded the Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award from the American Sociological Association. This is the highest award offered in sociology for teaching. Dr. Ferguspn has taught at Grinnell College for more than 25 years.
Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Appoints Five Women Faculty Members to Leadership Positions
“These faculty have exceptional teaching, mentorship, and leadership experience, and will bring diverse perspective, strategic outlook, and innovation to our programs,” said Marie Nolan, interim dean of the nursing school.
Marcia Chatelain of Georgetown University Is the 2020 Hooks National Book Award Winner
The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis has named Marcia Chatelain, a professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., as the 2020 Hooks National Book Award Winner for her book Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America.
A Trio of Women Who Have Been Named to Diversity Posts in Higher Education
The three women appointed to university diversity positions are Sonia DeLuca Fernández at the University of Colorado Boulder, Sibby Anderson-Thompkins at Sewanee: The University of the South, and Kauline Cipriani at Colorado State University.
Four Women Scholars Who Have Been Named to Endowed Professorships
The four women appointed to endowed chairs are Sianne Ngai at the University of Chicago, Charmaine Royal at Duke University in North Carolina, Dina Katabi at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Nancy Wagner at Youngstown State University in Ohio.
Reported Sexual Assaults On College Campuses Continue to Increase
A new report from the U.S. Department of Education offers a detailed look at crime and safety at the nation’s schools and on college and university campuses.
Daphne Rudicell Robinson Will Be the Last President of Judson College in Alabama
Daphne Rudicell Robinson is the 24th president of Judson College in Marion, Alabama. When she took office on July 19, she became the first woman to lead the women’s college. Her tenure will be short-lived. The college plans to close its doors on July 31.
UNESCO Report Finds Women Remain Far Behind Men in the High-Tech Sector
The UNESCO Science Report 2021 finds that women worldwide have made tremendous gains in the academic world but they remain far behind men in emerging fields such as data science, robotics, computing, and artificial intelligence.
Daisy Cocco De Filippis Appointed President of Hostos Community College in New York
Dr. Cocco De Filippis returned to Hostos Community College in 2020 as interim president after a 12-year tenure as president of Naugatuck Valley Community College in Connecticut. From 2002 to 2008, she served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Hostos Community College.
A Gender Salary Gap Persists for Faculty in Some Internal Medicine Disciplines
The study found that in academic medicine specialties with greater female representation were consistently those in which all physicians had lower salaries. The widest pay discrepancy of 21 percent was in the field of cardiology.
Two Women Scholars Who Have Been Appointed to Provost Positions
Michelle Piskulich was named provost and vice president for academic affairs at Molloy Collge in Rockville Center, New York, and Karyn Scissum Gunn was appointed provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at California State University, Long Beach.
