Smith Chosen as ADVANCE Professor

The University of Maryland has won a grant from the National Science Foundation to launch an ADVANCE program.

 The five-year, $3.2 million ADVANCE Program for Inclusive Excellence seeks to increase the representation of women faculty members in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields at the university and to extend that work throughout the university. Building on the university's achievements in inclusiveness and equity, the ADVANCE program will implement interconnected strategies designed to transform academic environments and promote the professional growth of women faculty in STEM and in the university as a whole.

The program will provide new mentorship and funding opportunities for women faculty members, create greater transparency about how career advancement decisions are made, increase the awareness and use of benefits designed to help faculty members balance work and family lives, and address the underrepresentation of women of color and their specific professional growth concerns.

Smith, a professor of English, is a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher for 2010-2011, the founding director of the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, and the executive editor and coordinator for the Dickinson Electronic Archives. Her term as ADVANCE Professor of the Arts and Humanities will run from Spring 2011 through May 2012. Ruth Zambrana, Department of Women's Studies, serves as the second ADVANCE professor for Arts and Humanities.

The University's press release regarding the ADVANCE program appears here.