Author Archive for Editor
In Memoriam: Millie Elizabeth Hughes-Fulford, 1945-2021
Millie Hughes-Fulford was a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the Univerity of California, San Francisco. She was the first woman to serve as a payload specialist on a space shuttle mission.
Two Women Who Are Retiring From High-Level University Positions
Dina López, professor of geological sciences at Ohio University has retired and been granted emerita status and Judith Cone, vice chancellor for innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will retire in April.
In Memoriam: Mary Elizabeth Young, 1929-2021
Dr. Young joined the faculty at Ohio State University as an instructor in 1955. At this time, she was one of few academic historians devoted to the serious study of American Indians.
A Trio of Women Appointed to Dean Positions at High-Rated Colleges and Universities
Whitney Soule was appointed vice provost and dean of admissions at the University of Pennsylvania. Wendy Cadge has been selected as the new dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and Heather Antecol was appointed vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Claremont McKenna College in California.
Association for Women in Mathematics Recognized Mentoring Work of University of Nevada’s Lynda Wiest
Dr. Wiest worked as an elementary and middle school teacher for more than a decade before joining the faculty at the University of Nevada Reno in 1996. She was promoted to associate professor in 2001 and to full professor in 2009. Since 1998, Dr. Wiest has been the director of a week-long math camp that has helped many young girls discover their passion for mathematics.
Nine Women Faculty Members Who 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 or have been assigned new duties.
University of Illinois Entomologist Honored for Work to Enhance Public Engagement With Science
Esther Ngumbi, an assistant professor of entomology at the University of Illinois is the 2021 recipient of the Mani L. Bhaumik Award for Public Engagement with Science, an annual award given out by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Previous winners have included Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Colleges and Universities Announce the Appointments of Ten Women to Administrative Posts
Here is this week’s roundup of women who have been appointed to new administrative positions at colleges and universities throughout the United States.
Martha Curley Honored for Her Work in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
Martha Curley holds the Ruth M. Colket Endowed Chair in Pediatric Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania and is a professor of anesthesia at the university’s medical school. Her research focuses on nurse-implemented therapies for acute respiratory failure in critically ill pediatric patients.
Four Women Scholars Promoted and Granted Tenure at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine
The four women appointed to associate professor and granted tenure are Barbara Elias in government, Erika Nyhus in neuroscience and psychology, Kristi A. Olson in philosophy, and Hannah E. Reese in psychology.
Five Women Appointed to Diversity Positions at Colleges and Universities
Taking on new diversity assignments are Jin Feng at Grinnell College in Iowa, Jessica Harris at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Rosta Farzan at the University of Pittsburgh, Precious Porras at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, and Marilyn Clark at the University of Kentucky.
The Gender Gap in College Enrollments of Recent High School Graduates
New U.S. Census Bureau data shows that in 2019, 61.3 percent of male high school graduates had enrolled in postsecondary education by October of that year. For women high school graduates in 2019, 69.3 percent were enrolled in college by October.
Julia Chinyere Oparah Will Be the Next Provost at the University of San Francisco
Dr. Oparah has served on the faculty at Mills College in Oakland, California, for more than 20 years. In 2017, she was named provost and dean of the faculty at Mills College. She will assume her new duties at the University of San Francisco on July 12.
Women in the Health Sciences Face Significant Barriers and the Pandemic Made Things Worse
In a study conducted prior to the pandemic, scholars at Florida International University found several significant barriers facing early-career women researchers in the health sciences. The authors state that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated women’s opportunities to achieve success in the field.
Florida State University’s Karen Oehme to Serve as Chair of the Academic Resilience Consortium
The consortium is an association of over 600 faculty, staff, and higher education students dedicated to understanding and promoting student resilience. Its members include representatives from more than 360 schools in 45 U.S. states and 17 countries, supporting one another in the effort to improve programming and pedagogy and remove systemic barriers to student success.
Stanford Univerity Study Finds That Lack of Self Confidence Can Explain Part of the Gender Pay Gap in STEM Fields
Researchers found that women earned $61,000 in their first jobs compared to $65,000 for men, despite having the same degrees and grade point averages. According to the subjects’ answers to questions about their capabilities, the researchers concluded that a portion of the pay gap between men and women could be explained by a gap in self-confidence.
Jessica McHugh to Lead the Children and Youth Section of the American Occupational Therapy Association
Jessica McHugh is an assistant professor in the department of occupational therapy at the University of South Dakota. Dr. McHugh’s teaching is focused on pediatrics and early interventions. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she conducts research in pediatric neurodevelopment and issues related to vision and youth occupations.
In Memoriam: Thelma Jean Grossholtz, 1929-2021
Professor Grossholtz joined the faculty at Mount Holyoke College in 1961 and founded the women’s studies program. She taught politics and women’s studies at the college. She retired in 1999.
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.
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.
Harvard University’s Katharine Park Named a Recipient of the 2021 David Dan Prize
Katharine Park is the Samuel Zemurray, Jr. and Doris Zemurray Stone Radcliffe Research Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University. She is being honored by the David Dan Foundation in Israel for her research on the history of medicine in medieval and Renaissance Europe.
In Memoriam: Judith M. Roy, 1945-2021
In 2005, Judith Roy was elected president of the National Women’s Studies Association. She was the first, and still only, two-year college faculty member elected to the position.
Three Women Who Have Announced Their Retirements From High-Level Posts in the Academic World
After 30 years as president of Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, Carol Jean Vale announced that she will retire in June 2022. Also stepping down are Trudy Turner, a professor and university secretary at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Paula Volent, chief investment officer at Bowdoin College in Maine.
In Memoriam: Wynetta Devore, 1929-2020
Dr. Devore began her academic career at Kean University in Union, New Jersey. She then taught at Rutgers University before joining the faculty at Syracuse University’s School of Social Work in 1980. She retired in 1999.
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.
Two American Women Share the Wolf Prize in Medicine for Their Research on RNA Biology
Lynne E. Maquat, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Rochester, and Joan Steitz, Sterling Professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University, have been awarded the Wolf Prize in Medicine for their “fundamental discoveries in RNA biology that have the potential to better human lives.”
Nine Women Scholars Who Have Been Assigned New Duties 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 or have been assigned new duties.
Chien-Shiung Wu is the Third Woman Physicist to Be Honored With a U.S. Commemorative Stamp
Dr. Wu was the first female president of the American Physical Society, the first woman hired to a tenure-track position in the physics department at Columbia University, and the first living scientist to have an asteroid named in her honor.
Eight Women Who Are Taking on New Administrative Duties at American Universities
Here is this week’s roundup of women who have been appointed to new administrative positions at colleges and universities throughout the United States.
MIT’s Shafi Goldwasser Wins the 2021 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Award
Founded in 1998, the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Awards annually honors five eminent women scientists representing every major region of the world. The award honors women for excellent research within the physical sciences, mathematics, and computer science.
A Trio of Women Scholars Who Have Been Appointed to Endowed Professorships
The three women appointed to endowed professors are Khim Kelly in the College of Business at the University of Central Florida, Susana Marcos, in the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester, and Angela Onwuachi-Willig in the School of Law at Boston University.
A Snapshot in Time of Gender Disparities in School Enrollments in the United States
Overall, boys and men are slightly more likely than girls and women to be enrolled in school. But in the traditional college years of 18 to 21 and traditional graduate school years between 22-29, women are significantly more likely than men to be enrolled in school.
St. Lawrence University in New York Names Kathryn Morris as Its Nineteenth President
For the past eight years, Dr. Morris has been serving as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Earlier, Dr. Morris served as a professor of psychology and was chair of that department at Butler. Her areas of expertise include social psychology, the psychology of gender, methodology, and statistics.
Paid Maternal Leave Has Long-Term Health Benefits for Women Who Receive It
The results of a study of a large group of women who gave birth in the late 1970s showed that women who were given paid maternal leave had lower blood pressure, a lower body mass index, lower cholesterol levels, were less likely to smoke, and more likely to exercise when they reached the age of 40.
The Next Leader of the Pan American Nursing and Midwifery Collaborating Centers
Ada Markaki is an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing. The centers support the roles of nurses and midwives in advancing universal health access and coverage, as well as promoting cooperation on a regional and global scale.
