All Entries in the "Milestones" Category
Former Agnes Scott College President Elizabeth Kiss to Direct the Rhodes Trust
Elizabeth Kiss, the former president of Agnes Scott College, was named Warden of Rhodes House at the University of Oxford in England. In this role, she will be the director of the Rhodes Trust which administers the Rhodes Scholarship program. Dr. Kiss will be the first woman to serve in this post.
Deborah Curtis Will Be the First Woman President of Indiana State University
Since 2012, Dr. Curtis has been serving as provost at the University of Central Missouri in Warrenburg. Earlier she served on the faculty of Illinois State University for 26 years and also was dean of the College of Education.
Anna Maria Nápoles Named to a Key Post at the National Institutes of Health
Dr. Nápoles has been a professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco since 2001. She is the first Latina to be named a scientific director at the National Institutes of Health.
Garnett Stokes Will Be the First Woman President of the University of New Mexico
Since February 2015, Dr. Stokes has been serving as provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Before joining the administration at the University of Missouri she was provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Florida State University.
The First Person to Earn a Ph.D. in Physics in the State of South Dakota
Wenzhao Wei is not only the first woman, but the first person, to earn a Ph.D. in physics in the state of South Dakota. She earned her degree in the joint program of the University of South Dakota and the South Dakota School of Mining and Technology.
Connie Ledoux Book to Be the First Woman President of Elon University in North Carolina
Dr. Book is no stranger to Elon University. She joined the faculty in 1999 as an assistant professor of communications. Dr. Book left Elon in 2015 to become the first woman provost at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina.
For the First Time, Women Are a Majority of First-Year Students at Carnegie Mellon University
This year, there are 857 women in the entering class at Carnegie Mellon University. They make up 51.1 percent of the entering class. Four years ago in 2013, women made up 44 percent of first-year students.This is a significant milestone for a university that awards a majority of its degrees in STEM disciplines.
Sarah Mailhiot’s Milestone Achievement at Montana State University
Until now no woman had ever earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Montana State University. Sarah Mailhiot, whose doctoral research involved finding better ways to diagnose osteoarthritis using magnetic resonance imaging, is the first woman to do so. She is now conducting research in Sweden as a Whitaker Scholar.
The First Woman President of Eureka College in Illinois
Jamel Santa Cruze Wright has been serving as interim president of the college since July 2016. Dr. Wright first came to Eureka College in 2014 as chief diversity officer and vice president for strategic and diversity initiatives.
Tonjua Williams Will Be the First Woman President of St. Petersburg College in Florida
Dr. Williams has been on the staff at the college for 30 years. Since 2013, she has served as senior vice president of student services. She holds a Ph.D. in higher education administration from Barry University in Miami.
The First Naval ROTC Graduate in the 128-Year History of Barnard College
Kelsey Lynch, who graduated from Barnard with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, completed the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program. This September, Lynch will begin her six-year term of naval service at the Aviation Pre-Flight Indoctrination facility in Pensacola, Florida.
The First Woman Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley
Since 2015, Dr. Christ has served as director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education and interim executive vice chancellor and provost at Berkeley. From 2002 to 2013, Dr. Christ was president of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
The First Woman Dean of Yale Law School
Professor Heather Gerken is the J. Skelly Wright Professor of Law at Yale and is the director of the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project. When she takes office on July 1, she will become the 17th person and the first woman to hold the position as dean of Yale Law School.
Sisters Earn the First Two Doctorates in Educational Leadership at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Both recipients of the doctoral degrees in educational leadership in higher education are employees of the university. Both are in their 60s and they are sisters.
Marjorie Hass to Be the First Woman President of Rhodes College in Memphis
Since 2009, Dr. Hass has been serving as president of Austin College in Sherman, Texas. She also serves as chair of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. She will become the first woman president in the 168-year history of Rhodes College on July 1.
The American Philosophical Society Elects its First Woman President
Linda Greenhouse is the Knight Distinguished Journalist-in-Residence and the Joseph Goldstein Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. She is the first woman to serve as president in the 273-year history of the American Philosophical Society.
The First Woman President of Carroll University in Waukesha, Wisconsin
Sara Ray Stoelinga currently serves as the Sara Liston Spurlark Director of the Urban Education Institute at the University of Chicago. Dr. Stoelinga also serves as a professor in the Urban Teacher Education Program at the university. She will become president of Carroll University in July 2017.
University Student Is the Youngest Person Ever Elected to the Florida Legislature
Amber Mariano is a senior majoring in political science at the University of Central Florida. In November, she became the youngest person ever elected to the Florida House of Representatives.
The First Woman President of Utah State University
Since 2013, Dr. Cockett has served as executive vice president and provost at the university. From 2006 to 2013, she was vice president for extension and agriculture. From 2002 to 2013, Dr. Cockett was dean of the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences.
Wheaton College Professor Is a Member of the 50 State Marathon Club
Annette Tomal, an associate professor of business and economics at Wheaton College in Illinois, recently completed a 26.2-mile marathon in Pocatello, Idaho. She has now completed running a marathon in all 50 states.
LaVerne Harmon Named the Next President of Wilmington University in Delaware
LaVerne Harmon is currently executive vice president at Wilmington University. When she takes office on July 1, she will become the first African American woman to serve as president of a university in the state of Delaware.
Meet One of the Nation’s Youngest Physicians
Ola Hadaya recently entered the medical residency program in obstetrics and gynecology at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. At age 21, she is one of the youngest physicians in the United States.
Two Women Musicians Earn Milestone Appointments at Major Universities
Elizabeth Kerns McCann of the University of Minnesota is the first woman to direct a marching band in the Big 10 Conference and newly appointed Erin Cooper of the University of Missouri is the only woman director of a marching band in the 14-member Southeastern Conference.
The First Woman to Chair the Board of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
Cynthia Shapira will chair the board of governors that oversees the operations of 14 state universities that combined enroll more than 100,000 students. She is a trustee at Point Park University in Pittsburgh and Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Women’s College Graduate Named to the Minnesota Supreme Court
Anne McKeig, a graduate of Saint Catherine University in St. Paul, was appointed an associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Minnesota is now one of only two states where women make up a majority of the justices on the state’s highest court. She is also the first American Indian justice to serve on Minnesota’s highest court.
A Milestone Appointment at Christ’s College of the University of Cambridge
Jane Stapleton was named the 38th master of Christ’s College of Cambridge University. She is the first woman to lead Christ’s College since its founding in 1505. She is the former Ernest E. Smith Professor of Law at the University of Texas at Austin.
Mississippi State Scholar Is the First Woman to Receive a Prestigious Award in the Geosciences
Brenda Kirkland, associate professor of geosciences at Mississippi State University, received the Grover E. Murray Memorial Distinguished Educator Award at the annual convention of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in Calgary, Alberta.
Women Now Hold the Top Three Leadership Positions at the National Science Foundation
Maria Zuber, the E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics and vice president for research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was elected chair of the National Science Board and Diane Souvaine, a professor of computer science and vice provost for research at Tufts University, was elected vice chair.
Emory University in Atlanta Chooses Its First Woman President
Since 2013, Dr. Claire E. Sterk has been serving as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Emory. A native of The Netherlands, Dr. Sterk joined the faculty at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory in 1995.
Jo Ann Rooney Will Be the First Woman President of Loyola University of Chicago
Dr. Rooney has served as senior adviser to the Secretary of Defense. Earlier in her career, Dr. Rooney was president of Spaulding University in Louisville, Kentucky, and Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts.
Law School Dean Completes the Boston Marathon in Her Eighth Month of Pregnancy
Jocelyn Benson, dean of the Wayne University Law School in Detroit, is expecting her first child on June 4. On April 18, Dr. Benson, with the approval of her doctor, competed in and finished the Boston Marathon.
Woman Graduates From College 67 Years After Earning Her High School Diploma
Last month, Rosemarie Howerton earned a bachelor’s degree at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. She earned her bachelor’s degree 67 years after graduating from high school. Howerton will celebrate her 86th birthday on January 20.
The First Woman to Earn a Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Miami
Negin Arhami, a native of Tehran, Iran, received a Ph.D. in computer science on December 17 from the University of Miami. She is the first woman in history to earn a Ph.D. in computer science at the university.
For the First Time in History There Are Three Sisters in Different Classes at CalTech
The Butkovich family from Blue Springs, Missouri, currently has three daughters attending the California Institute of Technology. The university says that it is the first time in CalTech history that three sisters have been enrolled in three different classes at the same time.
The First Woman President of Kilgore College in Texas
Dr. Brenda Kays has served as vice president for student learning and success at Guilford Technical Community College in North Carolina and as dean of instructional services and chief academic officer at Vernon College in Texas.
