SOE faculty members Dynarski and O’Connor awarded University Diversity and Social Transformation Professorships

The designation was recently created to recognize senior faculty who have shown a commitment to the university’s ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion through their scholarship, teaching, or service and engagement.

The Board of Regents approved the appointments Sept. 19. They took effect Sept. 1.

“These scholars are nationally and internationally recognized researchers,” said Provost Martin Philbert. “Their scholarship and contributions to their fields represent a level of engagement and accomplishment that U-M is proud to support.”

Awarded the new designation were Ketra Armstrong, Audrey Bennett, Susan Dynarski, Lola Eniola-Adefeso, Stephanie Fryberg, Marita Inglehart, Carla O’Connor, Denise Sekaquaptewa, and David Wooten.

They will hold their initial appointments for five years and receive an annual stipend of $20,000 to support their scholarly and professional work. They also will receive special faculty fellow status at the National Center for Institutional Diversity, and will spend at least one semester as a faculty fellow-in-residence.

“While their areas of investigation vary, they are united in one aspect: The breadth and depth of their work has led to innovative, often interdisciplinary, research and teaching that explores and addresses questions related to DEI with our local communities, and extends beyond to global societies,” said Tabbye Chavous, director for NCID and professor of education and psychology.

Similar to other U-M professorships, such as the Arthur F. Thurnau, Collegiate and Distinguished University professorships, the University Diversity and Social Transformation Professorship is reserved for only the highest level of achievement.

As NCID faculty fellows-in-residence, the awardees are asked to share a set of goals related to their own scholarship, teaching, or service and engagement that they plan to accomplish during that term. They also will have access to NCID’s administrative infrastructure and other center resources to support their activities.

About the recipients

Susan Dynarski is a professor of public policy, education, and economics, holds an appointment at the Institute for Social Research and is co-director of the Education Policy Initiative. Dynarski’s research focuses on the effectiveness of charter schools, the optimal design of financial aid, the price elasticity of private school attendance, the relationship between postsecondary schooling and labor market outcomes, and the effect of high school reforms on academic achievement and educational attainment.

Carla O’Connor is the director of Wolverine Pathways, a free, year-round program that partners with the families, schools, and communities of Detroit, Ypsilanti, and Southfield to support academic success, college admission, and career exploration. She is also a professor of education and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor. Her work includes examinations of how black identity is differentially constructed across multiple contexts and influences educational outcomes; how black people’s perceptions of opportunity vary within and across social space and shape academic orientation; how black educational resilience and vulnerability is structured by social, institutional, and historical forces; and how the organization and culture of schools influence students’ social and academic identities and outcomes. 

This article first appeared in The University Record.