Jackie Litt
E-mail: littj@missouri.edu
Jackie Litt is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Women’s and Gender Studies department, as well as a member of the Mizzou ADVANCE Steering Board. The New York native completed her undergraduate studies at William Smith College and earned her doctorate in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. Her research interests include gender and its role in motherhood, carework, and careers of academic scientists. She is currently working on a new monograph, Women of Katrina: Crossing Borders, Weaving Networks, and Taking Care.

Lesa Beamer
E-mail: beamerl@missouri.edu
Lesa Beemer is an Associate Professor of Biochemistry and a Mizzou ADVANCE Steering Board member. The Cleveland, Ohio native completed her undergraduate degree in Chemistry at Kent State University and received her doctorate in Biochemistry at the John Hopkins School of Medicine. Her research interest is in structural biology, specifically the x-ray crystallography of medically important proteins, and she has been teaching at MU for ten years.

Suzanne Burgoyne
E-mail: burgoynes@missouri.edu
Suzanne Burgoyne is a Curators’ Teaching Professor of Theatre, Catherine P. Middlebush Chair of Fine & Performing Arts, and Mizzou ADVANCE Steering Board member. The St. Joseph, Michigan native has been teaching at MU for 19 years. She completed her undergraduate degree at Michigan State University, her master’s degree at Ohio State University, and her doctorate at the University of Michigan. Her research specialties are interactive theatre and the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Meera Chandrasekhar
E-mail: chandrasekharm@missouri.edu
Meera Chandrasekhar is a Curators’ Teaching Professor of Physics and a Mizzou ADVANCE Steering Board member. Born in Secunderabad, India, she completed her undergraduate degree at Mysore University. She then continued on to IIT Madras, where she received master’s degree, and Brown University, where she completed her doctorate. Today, she has been teaching at MU for 30 years, and her research area is optical spectroscopy of semiconductors under high pressure.

Carol Deakyne
E-mail: deakynec@missouri.edu
Carol Deakyne is an Associate Professor of Chemistry and a member of the Mizzou ADVANCE steering board. Originally from Patuxent River, Maryland, she earned her bachelor's degree at Rider College and her doctorate at Princeton University. She has been teaching at MU for five and a half years, and her research covers various aspects of chemistry such as theoretical and computational chemistry.

Jeni Hart
E-mail: hartjl@missouri.edu
Jeni Hart is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, she received her undergraduate degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, her master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs from the University of Vermont, and her doctorate in Higher Education from the University of Arizona. She has been teaching at MU for five years, and her research area is gender and academic work.

Carol Lorenzen
E-mail: lorenzenc@missouri.edu
Carol Lorenzen is an Associate Professor of Animal Science and a Mizzou ADVANCE Steering Board member. She grew up in Redmond, Washington, and completed her undergraduate degree at Washington State University. She then attended graduate school at Texas A&M, where she earned her master’s degree and doctorate. She has been teaching at MU for nine years, and her research specialty is meat tenderness, specifically that of beef.

Michael Middleton
E-mail: middletonm@missouri.edu
Michael Middleton is Deputy Chancellor and a member of the Mizzou ADVANCE Steering Board. Born in Jackson, Mississippi, he is no stranger to MU, as he completed both his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the university. He has been part of the MU faculty for 23 years, and his research interest is law.

Marjorie Skubic
E-mail: skubicm@missouri.edu
Marjorie Skubic is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and member of the Mizzou ADVANCE Steering Board. Born in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, she completed her undergraduate degree in Engineering Physics from South Dakota State University. She then continued on to Texas A&I University, where she received her master’s degree in Computer Science. She received her doctorate in Computer Science from Texas A&M University. She has been teaching at MU for 11 years, and her research covers pattern recognition and sensory perception, eldercare technology, spatial referencing interfaces, and human-robot interaction. She is the Director of the Eldercare and Rehabilitation Technology Center in the College of Engineering.

Sheryl Tucker
E-mail: tuckers@missouri.edu
Sheryl Tucker, is a Professor of Chemistry. From 2007 - 2009, Dr. Tucker served as a member of the Mizzou ADVANCE Steering Board. Beginning in Fall 2009, Dr. Tucker is on leave to the National Science Foundation. The Wooster, Ohio, native completed her undergraduate degree at Kent State University, her doctorate at the University of North Texas, and her post-doctorate at Duke University. She taught at MU for 12 years, and her research interests centered on the use of molecular spectroscopy to study complex systems such as nanocapsules and dendritic polymers. She also devoted time to the Magic of Chemistry program as founder and coordinator.