Taken together, their careers at the University represent professional accomplishments of the highest order.
They have changed the trajectory of their students’ lives. They have done research that has furthered the understanding of what is possible. They have created meaningful relationships throughout the community, and enhanced campus-wide collaboration across all disciplines and all fields of endeavor.
They have helped other faculty see themselves in the work that they do. And make no mistake about it: Their example and achievements have made the University a better place. Through transformational careers that have seen them work and excel in a variety of campus and institutional roles for three or four decades or even a bit more, they have seen the University change – with the hope that the University can continue to evolve and fulfill the dreams of all who work, study and contribute to the University’s mission.
The collective experiences of the faculty written about below are each highly personal, and their stories of how they came to the University, and why they have remained throughout some of the most distinguished careers in the institution’s history, speak to purpose, promise and hope.
In honor of Women’s History Month, ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today recently asked several faculty members about their careers at the University. What their work has meant to them. What their work has meant to others. And why, after all these years, it still matters.
DANA EDBERG, associate professor, Information Systems; graduate director, Master of Science in Information Systems (IS) program.
“So much change makes it impossible to be bored and easy to be challenged.”
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: According to Human Resources, your first contract with the University began on 8/22/1983. Can you briefly explain what brought you here to the University in 1983?
Dana Edberg: I was working for the Burroughs Corporation (a computer vendor) and was appointed as the technical project manager for the installation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system at NSHE. I thought it would be fun to teach part-time while doing the project so went to the department chair for ACC/IS and offered to teach a class. I was hoping to teach operating systems, but he really needed someone to teach COBOL (“Common Business Oriented Language”), so I taught that. I enjoyed teaching and received good student evaluations. Burroughs’ contract with the university was terminated so I was going to go back on the road doing technical work for Burroughs and told the department chair I couldn’t teach for the upcoming fall semester. The department chair offered me a full-time job as a lecturer. He said I could complete a master’s degree essentially for free while teaching full-time as a lecturer. There were very few Ph.D.-qualified people in IS at that time, and only one other female faculty member in the College of Business (Jeanne Wendel in Economics) so the department chair encouraged me to join the faculty in his department. I planned that it would be for only a few years – long enough to earn my master’s degree and then go back into business – but I didn’t count on loving the job. I absolutely loved learning new things and teaching whatever I learned. I taught just about every class we offered in Information Systems at one time or another and enjoyed every single one.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: You’ve had a number of really notable accomplishments throughout your career. Are there any that you are particularly proud of?
Dana Edberg: I’m proud of finishing my master’s thesis while teaching full-time, and taking care of my newborn son. I enjoy the old pictures of my son (now in his 30’s) sitting on my lap surrounded by academic articles. I was delighted that a paper from that thesis was published in a top IS journal and was considered a good example of rigorous, but relevant and practical, research. I’m proud of electing to earn a Ph.D. degree while also being the parent of a young child. It was really satisfying to win the F. Donald Tibbitts teaching award and be named Senior Scholar mentor to two of our outstanding Information Systems undergraduate students in the College of Business.
I hope I was an effective department chair – it is a tough job – I served two terms as department chair of the combined Accounting/IS department and another term as the IS department chair. While chair, I led the effort to develop two graduate degrees - the Masters of Science in Information Systems (on campus) and Master of Science in Business Analytics (online) and think that both degrees helped many students launch a new career and/or enhance their career potential. Also while chair, I hired many new faculty members in both Accounting and Information Systems who have helped shape both disciplines at our university.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: Who were some of the mentors/friends/colleagues here on campus who were helpful to you as your career advanced?
Dana Edberg: Mike Reed (emeritus dean of the College of Business) was incredibly kind, helpful, and supportive. He was a terrific mentor and was a key reason that I earned a Ph.D. and then remained at the University of ÁùºÏ±¦µä, Reno after completing my Ph.D. at Claremont Graduate University. As a female faculty member in Information Systems, there were many other opportunities, but Mike made it challenging and interesting for me to stay on the faculty at the University. He would frequently drop by my office (as he did with many other faculty members) and ask about my teaching and research. He asked great questions about what I was doing and asked for my opinion about activities in the college. He made me feel like I was part of a team in the college. John Frederick (past Provost) was also a mentor – through very long university planning committee meetings, I learned how to conduct strategic planning efforts and gain consensus among people with many diverse objectives. Jannet Vreeland and I started the MBA program at the same time in 1983 and became fast friends while going to the movies together every week. She and I have maintained a close friendship over the years and the many changes in both our lives.
People from the past (retired or deceased) including Fritz Grupe, Jeanne Yamamura, Jeanne Wendel, Stefanie Scoppettone, Cynthia Birk, Betty Cossitt, Mark Simkin, Bill Kuechler, and Michael Ekedahl were friends and colleagues who made the job a joy. The current faculty in the IS department are wonderful colleagues and I enjoy our mix of interests and activities. I have the honor of maintaining friendships over the years with many of our alumni.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: How would you characterize the University in 1983? How has it changed today?
Dana Edberg: Well, it is certainly bigger, in the size of the student body, the diversity of faculty expertise, structure of administration, and the physical size of the campus. The university in 1983, like in 2024, worked/works hard to serve its students, faculty, community, and other stakeholders. The focus in 1983 was more regional and on undergraduate teaching and less on international exposure, graduate education, and research. Over the years, the University has broadened and strengthened its mission to more fully embrace research, graduate education, and the development of new knowledge. The University has expanded its reach beyond our region and attracted greater diversity in its students, faculty, and administration.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: To do something for as long as you have, you obviously must love it a great deal. Your passion for what you do is a pretty well-known thing. What has kept you going?
Dana Edberg: I am privileged to work in a discipline (information systems/technology) that changes constantly and continually transforms both individual relationships and organizations. So much change makes it impossible to be bored and easy to be challenged. The intellectual energy of my discipline and our campus keeps me excited about my job. I still love learning and sharing knowledge and skills with our students. I enjoy learning from students as they look at every topic with a fresh perspective and new ideas.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: If you had any advice today that you would like to share for a younger female faculty member who’s just starting out right now for them to have a fulfilling and long career, what might it be?
Dana Edberg: I hesitate to give advice about a career. It really depends on an individual’s goals and the strengths/challenges/opportunities of the person. When a student asks me about his or her career, I spend time asking questions before giving advice so that there is at least a chance that the advice might be worthwhile. So, if a younger female faculty member wanted advice, I’d be happy to chat about it!
MARYANN DEMCHAK, professor, Special Education; coordinator, VCS in Applied Behavior Analysis in Special Education Sub-plan; director, ÁùºÏ±¦µä Dual Sensory Impairment Project
“I decided to stay longer and here I am almost 36 years later having never really looked back on the decision to stay.”
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: According to HR, your first contract with the University began on 8/22/1988. Can you briefly explain what brought you here to the University in 1988?
Maryann Demchak: I was previously in a year-round grant position at another university in the East. The year before moving here, I drove across country for a vacation (9,000 miles in a month). During that trip, I decided that I wanted a tenure-track position – in the West if possible. The University had a position in severe disabilities (my field). When I interviewed, the faculty of the department were all fairly new to the university and enthusiastic about research, quality teaching, and service to various aspects of the teaching profession. It was a vibrant culture. I was excited about the opportunities and accepted the position, but came for two to three years with the plan to reevaluate my career and the University at that point. At that time, I decided to stay longer and here I am almost 36 years later having never really looked back on the decision to stay.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: You’ve had a number of really notable accomplishments throughout your career. Are there any that you are particularly proud of?
Maryann Demchak: I am honored to have received the Distinguished Faculty Award in 2019. This University award recognizes someone who has spent a substantial portion of their career at the University; has positive and productive relationships with colleagues and students; inspires and challenges their students with their passion for their subject; has significant involvement with faculty development, public outreach, and programmatic innovation at the University; and has a record of leadership and influential roles at the University. It was an incredible honor to receive this award that truly recognizes one’s entire career and dedication to the University. Other University awards recognized important aspects of my career – University Outreach Award, University Graduate Advising Award, college research awards. However, the Distinguished Faculty Award is such an honor because it encompasses so many aspects of one’s career.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: Who were some of the mentors/friends/colleagues here on campus who were helpful to you as your career advanced?
MaryAnn Demchak: Dr. Christine Cheney, who retired several years ago, was a colleague and a friend during our tenure together at the university. We collaborated on a variety of professional/scholarly activities even though our areas of special education were different. The collaboration we engaged in was beneficial for both of our careers, but also individually rewarding. We co-wrote multiple grants that were funded, published articles together, co-presented many sessions at international and national conferences, as well as co-taught summer institute courses. I would hope that faculty can find such a colleague with whom they can work collaboratively on various projects as well as be great friends.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: How would you characterize the University in 1988? How has it changed today?
MaryAnn Demchak: The obvious answer is that the University has grown substantially since 1988. When I came to the University, many of the doctoral programs in the college were on hiatus with a plan to reactivate them as new faculty were hired. Over time the various doctoral programs in the college were returned, soon flourished with excellent doctoral students, and have continued to attract exemplary graduate students. I would also say that the reputation of the University has grown significantly. This growth in the University’s reputation is reflected in now being an R1 institution.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: To do something for as long as you have, you obviously must love it a great deal. What has kept you going?
MaryAnn Demchak: A variety of aspects of my position keep me going. One of the most gratifying aspects of my job is my grant work. Specifically, I have been the director of a continuously funded grant project since 1990. The ÁùºÏ±¦µä Dual Sensory Impairment Project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs, provides technical assistance to families and educational service providers of children, birth through 21 years of age, who have severe, multiple disabilities that include impairments in both vision and hearing. This is a very low incidence disability with few children in any one school district being identified with this combination of complex disabilities. Since the onset of this project, I have touched the lives of well over 500 children who are deafblind (and have other disabilities) in almost all of the school districts and early intervention agencies in ÁùºÏ±¦µä. I have traveled to schools and agencies as well as to families’ homes to provide child-specific consultations that reflect research-based practices for meeting children’s educational needs. I could not have done this work without the graduate students and professional faculty who have worked with me on the project.
Equally gratifying and another activity that keeps me going is working with graduate students at both the master’s and doctoral levels. I was an early adopter of online teaching, which allowed me to involve teachers in ÁùºÏ±¦µä’s rural and remote areas taking graduate courses and completing master’s degrees in severe disabilities / intellectual disabilities even though they lived hours from the university. A number of these master’s degree graduates have also studied with me to earn a Ph.D. in Special Education. It is incredibly gratifying to mentor doctoral students to not only earn their degrees, but to become quality instructors and researchers. I feel honored to continue to present and publish with my doctoral graduates.
It is also rewarding to have the opportunity to be involved with a new emphasis area in our special education program. Five years ago, I had the opportunity to be work with others to launch a new emphasis area for our M.Ed. program in special education: applied behavior analysis in special education. Upon completion of coursework and other requirements, graduates can be eligible to complete the national exam to be a Board Certified Behavior Analyst®. A colleague (Dr. Chevonne Sutter) and I recently received a five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs to prepare scholars to be BCBAs in special education, school-based settings, an area of need in the field. It is stimulating to be involved in the new emphasis of applied behavior analysis in special education while continuing my work in preparing graduate students to work in the area of severe and intellectual disabilities.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: If you had any advice today that you would like to share for a younger female faculty member who’s just starting out right now for them to have a fulfilling and long career, what might it be?
MaryAnn Demchak: My advice involves both professional and personal recommendations. Obviously, to be successful at an R1 university one has to ensure quality teaching, research, and service. It often seems that the area that is neglected when one becomes busy is the area of research. It is important to carve out time in one’s schedule to write – even if it is a small period of time such as 30-60 minutes per day. One will make steady progress with such a plan. I would also suggest reaching out for a mentor, whether here at the University or someone at another university. This mentor relationship can be formal or informal, but can be important to navigating the intricacies of a career in higher education. In terms of personal life, it is important to ensure a work/life balance and to take care of one’s own well-being. I realize that in many ways it is very easy to say to take care of oneself, but can be very difficult in practice. We are often expected to be the primary caregiver, juggler of family responsibilities, etc. Just as it is important to ensure writing time, I would suggest ensuring time in one’s schedule for themselves for personal activities that one enjoys – whatever they may be.
DOROTHY HUDIG, professor of Immunology, University of ÁùºÏ±¦µä, Reno School of Medicine
“Be courageous about your ideas and your worth.”
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: According to HR, your first contract with the University began on 1/1/1984. Can you briefly explain what brought you here to the University in 1984?
Dorothy Hudig: I was a “soft-money” research scientist at the University of California San Diego Cancer Center. Any lapse in federal funding could close my laboratory. I wanted a more permanent position. I responded to an ad in Science magazine, was treated well at the School of Medicine, and fell in love with the sunrise and the open spaces of Reno.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: You’ve had a number of really notable accomplishments throughout your career. Are there any that you are particularly proud of?
Dorothy Hudig: Together with James ”Jim” C. Powers, Ph.D. at Georgia Tech, we found that proteins called granzymes are essential for lymphocyte-mediated killing of tumor and virally infected cells. This discovery is now a textbook line. In 1991, I became ÁùºÏ±¦µä’s first woman full professor in the sciences and engineering. More significantly, I wrote and directed a component to promote tenure-track women in science ($750,000 for three years, 1995 to 1999) of a National Science Foundation EPSCoR grant to ÁùºÏ±¦µä. My co-director at UNLV, Penny Amy, Ph.D., became the second ÁùºÏ±¦µä woman full professor in the sciences. Many of the women we supported with startup research funds and group coaching became full professors. Now the overall women’s percentages have increased but are still below parity.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: Who were some of the mentors/friends/colleagues here on campus who were helpful to you as your career advanced?
Dorothy Hudig: I owe my survival to tenure to Terry Woodin, Ph.D., associate professor in Biochemistry in the College of Agriculture (now the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources). With her support, I persevered during some very rough times. Sometimes she would walk me round and round the Howard Building or to the art museum on Court Street until I calmed down. I also organized a Friday afternoon wine and cheese social for the 8-10 women in science at the University of ÁùºÏ±¦µä, Reno in the 1980s. Ann Ronald and Ann Howard, Ph.D.’s, and Catherine Smith, Ph.D., faculty in English and in Music, joined us. They educated us about the University’s campus politics.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: How would you characterize the University in 1984? How has it changed today?
Dorothy Hudig: The main campus was more like a state teacher’s college than what Clark Kerr, Ph.D., then president of the University of California system, called a “multiversity.” Now the University of ÁùºÏ±¦µä, Reno is a “multiversity,” with strong research activities, dedication to education, and preparation of students for productive careers.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: To do something for as long as you have, you obviously must love it a great deal. What has kept you going?
Dorothy Hudig: The excitement of discoveries and the joy of seeing my research students learn to frame questions, design experiments with critical controls, and get results that answer these questions!
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: If you had any advice today that you would like to share for a younger female faculty member who’s just starting out right now for them to have a fulfilling and long career, what might it be?
Dorothy Hudig: Be courageous about your ideas and your worth. Get help from across the globe to make your research productive. Learn the value of “No.” Persevere. And, try back-country skiing with really good skis and good friends.
INDIRA CHATTERJEE, associate dean, College of Engineering; foundation professor of Electrical and Biomedical Engineering
“Be passionate about your job, and never forget that the reason we are here is because of our students.”
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: According to HR, your first contract with the University began on 8/22/1988. Can you briefly explain what brought you here to the University in 1988?
Indira Chatterjee: My husband and I left the University of Utah a few years after getting our Ph.D.’s and went to the University of Alabama where he had a full-time job and I did part-time teaching. I was ready for a full-time position in academia and we wanted to come back West. The opportunity at the University of ÁùºÏ±¦µä, Reno came up and we moved here. There was nothing like a spousal hire at that time, and I got the tenure track position and he came as a research professor since he already had a good amount of research funding, and eventually was able to also get a tenure-track position.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: You’ve had a number of really notable accomplishments throughout your career. Are there any that you are particularly proud of?
Indira Chatterjee: Being the first (to my knowledge) engineering faculty to win the University Donald Tibbitts Distinguished Teacher award and being named as a Foundation Professor made me feel that I had contributed something to the University. And being recognized as the Senior Scholar mentor a few times made me very happy that I had made a difference in these students’ lives.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: Who were some of the mentors/friends/colleagues here on campus who were helpful to you as your career advanced?
Indira Chatterjee: There are several. Former Chairs of my home department (Electrical and Biomedical Engineering), Professor John Kleppe, Professor Bruce Johnson, and Professor Randy Haupt who mentored me through my assistant and associate professor days.
Former Dean John Epps, who was always very supportive when I started here as an assistant professor, Former Dean Manos Maragakis under whom I served for almost 12 years as associate eean, who gave me many opportunities to be involved in implementing his vision for the College of Engineering.
The late Assistant Dean Walter Johnson who recognized that I was performing well as a teacher and nominated me for the University’s F. Donald Tibbitts Distinguished Teacher award, Professor Gale Craviso, Department of Pharmacology, my research colleague on many funded research projects, Associate Professor Adam Kirn, and Dr. Jenny Amos (University of Illinois) who mentored me to become an engineering education researcher. My husband, Mano Misra, who always supported all my endeavors, and finally my parents, both of them who were engineering professors who were my role models.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: How would you characterize the University and the College of Engineering in 1988? How have they changed today?
Indira Chatterjee: In 1988 the University and College of Engineering were small. I got to know many people on campus and knew everyone in the college by name. Since then both the University and the College have grown in student numbers and faculty and staff and I find myself not recognizing many of the faculty and staff. The University has become well known with it getting R1 status, and the campus has changed with many beautiful new buildings.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: To do something for as long as you have, you obviously must love it a great deal. What has kept you going?
Indira Chatterjee: Being in academia never gets boring. My transition from a professor who taught two classes every semester to being selected in 2010 to be the associate dean of engineering kept the excitement going as I was able to participate in helping put together many new initiatives for the College. I have had the opportunity to work closely with many very competent staff in the College. And of course, the best part is the students that I have interacted with over the years in my classes and via being the faculty advisor for the Society of Women Engineers and the Principal Investigator of the National Science Foundation S-STEM project CREATE and the hope that I somehow have made a slight difference in their lives.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: If you had any advice today that you would like to share for a younger female faculty member who’s just starting out right now for them to have a fulfilling and long career, what might it be?
Indira Chatterjee: Being a female faculty in engineering is not easy since we are still a minority, you have to show resiliency and be good at what you are doing. Be passionate about your job, and never forget that the reason we are here is because of our students. The rewards and satisfaction then come automatically.
JANE DAVIDSON, professor, History of Art
“Grow and keep growing and stand up for yourself. Always.”
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: According to HR, your first contract with the University began on 8/21/1978. Can you briefly explain what brought you here to the University in 1978?
Jane Davidson: I taught at Kansas for two years as a grad student. Went to Flagstaff for three years and then came to the University of ÁùºÏ±¦µä, Reno.
I did not like NAU (Northern Arizona University, located in Flagstaff, Arizona). Also, we were barely getting on financially. My late husband, who had a BFA, could not even find a job at Burger King. No trailing significant others then.
I am a native westerner so here I am. I was literally born in a blizzard on the Oregon Trail.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: You’ve had a number of really notable accomplishments throughout your career. Are there any that you are particularly proud of?
Jane Davidson: I would say my most significant accomplishments are my establishment of the characteristics to date the paintings of David Teniers the Younger 1610-1690, and my biography of Edward Drinker Cope,1840-1897. He was the founder of American paleontology. I am also an expert on witchcraft in Early Modern Europe.
I was the first female in a tenure-track position in the Art Department in the history of the University. In 1978. I was also the first female chair in Art and the youngest in CLA (College of Liberal Arts), consisting of 22 departments.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: Who were some of the mentors/friends/colleagues here on campus who were helpful to you as your career advanced?
Jane Davidson: Catherine Smith (Music); Dick Davies (former provost and History); Milton Glick (former University president); Bill Wallace (Psychology); Eric Herzik (Political Science); Frank Hartigan (History); Jerry Edwards (History).
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: How would you characterize the University in 1978? How has it changed today?
Jane Davidson: The University was growing then just as now. One reason I came was that. The med school was getting off the ground. That meant the University was, too.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: To do something for as long as you have, you obviously must love it a great deal. What has kept you going?
Jane Davidson: I love to teach. I love to interact with people. I love to learn. I could read at age three. My parents were teachers. Just kept reading.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: If you had any advice today that you would like to share for a younger female faculty member who’s just starting out right now for them to have a fulfilling and long career, what might it be?
Jane Davidson: Grow and keep growing and stand up for yourself. Always.
DEBORAH DAVIS, professor, Psychology
“Love what you do.”
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: According to HR, your first contract with the University began on 8/21/1978. Can you briefly explain what brought you here to the University in 1978?
Deborah Davis: It was the most attractive job offer at the time: a beautiful place, extremely nice colleagues and a thriving graduate program in my area with almost 20 graduate students.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: You’ve had a number of really notable accomplishments throughout your career. Are there any that you are particularly proud of?
Deborah Davis: I have a number of publications I am proud of. I have also done a significant amount of consulting and expert testimony in the legal system. I have testified all over the country and in Europe. This work has been very influential in developing research questions that I’ve brought back into my research lab. Also I have students I am very proud of.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: Who were some of the mentors/friends/colleagues here on campus who were helpful to you as your career advanced?
Deborah Davis: The senior members of the Social Psychology Program were Carl Backman and Jerry Ginsberg. They weren’t so much academic mentors as people who made me feel like family immediately. They invited me to their homes routinely and made it infinitely more easy to be in a new place.
Also, I should mention that an additional reason I stayed was that I won an audition for the Reno Philharmonic in 1980 and shortly after for the Reno Chamber Orchestra and played clarinet in those organizations for roughly 30 years. This added benefit made it truly impossible to think about leaving. There were many other University faculty who played in or with (as added choir members) these organizations and in the opera.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: How would you characterize the University in 1978? How has it changed today?
Deborah Davis: The University was MUCH smaller, as was the Psychology Department (it only had about 14 faculty or so). Also the standards for faculty have changed massively over the years to be much more demanding in every category (teaching, research, service). For years after I came, for example, most people didn’t do teacher evaluations.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: To do something for as long as you have, you obviously must love it a great deal. What has kept you going?
Deborah Davis: The ability to conduct research. And, I like the graduate students very much and learn a great deal from being around the younger generation. My vocabulary expands all the time, for example, as they teach me the new slang, social media speak and so on, and the new things in our culture that I wouldn’t know about without them.
ÁùºÏ±¦µä Today: If you had any advice today that you would like to share for a younger female faculty member who’s just starting out right now for them to have a fulfilling and long career, what might it be?
Deborah Davis: I don’t know what to say other than love what you do.
