Award is part of honorary ‘Diversity & Social Transformation Professorship’
Two University of Michigan scholars will receive an extra $20,000 per year for their “social justice” work in math and science as part of a “Diversity & Social Transformation Professorship.”
The public university’s Board of Regents approved Professors Ron Eglash (pictured left) and Isis Settles (pictured right) to the honorary positions last week, according to an announcement on the university website.
Laurie McCauley, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said in a statement Eglash and Settles are being honored for their work “at the crossroads of STEM, indigeneity, well-being and social justice.”
“[T]hese UDSTP appointees have given us new ways of seeing the world with an eye toward making tangible impact,” McCauley said.
Eglash is a professor of information technology, art, and design, and Settles is an associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as a professor of psychology, Afroamerican and African studies, and women’s and gender studies.
Their honorary diversity professorships include “an annual stipend of $20,000 for their first five years … to support their scholarly and professional work,” the university states.
Along with their regular professor positions, Eglash and Settles also will receive “special faculty fellow status” at the National Center for Institutional Diversity, according to the university.
The announcement states:
The professorship is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and jointly administered by the National Center for Institutional Diversity and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Eglash and Settles join 33 senior faculty members who have been appointed to the professorship since it was established in 2019.
Eglash is being honored for his work “creat[ing] a new portrait of African cultures, specifically that they are not later than other cultures in incorporating science, technology, engineering and math understandings,” according to the university.
Settles received the honor for her research on “the dynamics of gender in male-dominated environments, with a focus on women in STEM,” or science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The University of Michigan launched a five-year strategic plan in 2023 to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion into every aspect of its educational mission, including hiring, bias reporting, and curriculum, The College Fix reported at the time.
One part of the plan calls for “de-emphasizing singular Western historical narratives” in its College of Architecture and Urban Planning.
MORE: UMich spends $100K on DEI 2.0 launch, hip-hop performance
IMAGE: University of Michigan
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