Kathryn Lavelle

Dissertation Fellowship Recipient, 1994

Kathryn Lavelle
Alumnae Dissertation Fellow, 1994

Kathryn Lavelle is currently the Ellen and Dixon Long professor of World Affairs at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Her research explores the exchange between economic and political institutions with a particular emphasis on global financial issues.

Dr. Lavelle’s first book, The Politics of Equity Finance in Emerging Markets, explored the political circumstances that surround large issues of stock in the developing world. After being granted tenure at Case Western, she was awarded an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship and named the William A. Steiger fellow, a designation given to the most promising political scientist in her class of fellows. While in Washington during 2006-2007, she worked on the staff of the House Committee on Financial Services on issues related to domestic and international monetary policy. She later drafted the manuscript for a book, Legislating International Organization: the US Congress, the IMF, and the World Bank, during the 2008-9 academic year while a resident fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The next year, she was the inaugural holder of a Fulbright Visiting Chair in Global Issues at the University of Toronto Munk Centre where she began work on her most recent book, Money, Banks and the American Political System. In addition to her books, she is the author of numerous articles and book chapters appearing in International Studies Quarterly, Perspectives on Politics, International Organization, Review of International Organizations, The Journal of Modern African Studies, Third World Quarterly, Review of International Political Economy, International Journal of Political Economy, International Studies Review, Journal of International Affairs and The Columbia Journal of World Business.

Dr. Lavelle holds a PhD in political science from Northwestern University; an M.A. in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia and a bachelors degree in international economics from Georgetown University. She is a permanent member of the New York Council on Foreign Relations and a Global Fellow in the Global Europe program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Reflection on the Alumnae Fellowship:
The Alumnae Fellowship I received in 2004-5 was arguably the most transformative award of my career, because without it—none of the other work would have been possible. It allowed me to finish my dissertation against tough obstacles. When I was at Northwestern, I wanted to conduct innovative research that would combine my prior knowledge of diplomacy and international organizations with African development. The specific project explored the role of African States in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which meant I wanted to travel to the UNCTAD secretariat to interview African representatives. Programs that funded African research did not want to pay for me to go to Geneva, and programs that funded research in Switzerland did not want to pay for me to study African representation there. Therefore, the Alumnae funding meant that I was able to pursue a project that did not fit the existing categories.
The summer after I returned from doing the research, a member of the Alumnae—Marge Roche—graciously allowed me to housesit so that I could write up the dissertation. I published the major findings in the Journal of Modern African Studies, which is the journal of record in African Studies.
In the course of my career since then, I have published three books, been promoted to full professor with
an endowed chair at a major research university, and received awards from the West Africa Research
Association, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, American Political Science.

Amy E. Jetton

Dissertation Fellowship Recipient, 1990

Amy E. Jetton
Alumnae Dissertation Fellow, 1990

I grew up on a farm in rural northwestern Tennessee. My father farmed and was a rural mail carrier while my mother was the high school librarian. I was the youngest of four children born within six years. My parents helped put us all through college, but it was good that I was able to earn academic scholarships. I earned my BS in 1983 and spent 15 months in Australia on an ITT International Fellowship before applying to Northwestern. I began my doctoral studies in Neurobiology and Physiology in fall 1985. During my graduate work, I was supported by a Northwestern University Fellowship, NSF Graduate Fellowship, Northwestern University Teaching Fellowship and finally the Northwestern University Alumnae Dissertation Fellowship. After graduation in spring of 1991 with PhD in Neurobiology & Physiology, I began post-doctoral training and work at University of Massachusetts, Amherst and was awarded a National Research Service Award from NIH. In 1994, I began working for Middle Tennessee State University as an assistant professor in the biology department teaching physiology, endocrinology and human anatomy and physiology. In 1999, I earned tenure and promotion to the rank of associate professor. During my career I have coauthored 18 papers in national and international publications, advised 7 students to completion of their MS degrees and advised hundreds of students through their undergraduate degrees and application to medical, pharmacy, dental or graduate schools while teaching thousands of undergraduates in biology, nursing and pre-professional programs.

Impact of the Alumnae Fellowship

When I began my doctorate at Northwestern, one of my goals was to eventually become a biology professor. I hoped to return to Tennessee and work in public education to help smart, hard-working young people, just as professors had helped me as an undergraduate. The dissertation fellowship allowed me to continue to work on completing the final steps of my dissertation research as well as writing my dissertation and papers that arose from my research. It freed me from the need to teach or work on top of my studies, as I had done the previous year. The precious time afforded me opened several opportunities. I applied for and interviewed for several postdoctoral positions and jobs resulting in offers. I was also able to be part of additional research projects in my advisor’s lab that led to additional publications. These papers were key to building a curriculum vitae that helped me obtain a university position three years later in 1994. Many of my colleagues had difficulty finding tenure-track positions after their post-doctoral work. There is no doubt that the Dissertation Fellowship was a critical factor in helping my achieve my goal enabling me to teach and advise thousands of young people over the years as they completed degrees and moved on to careers or professional and graduate schools

Anita Olson Gustafson

Dissertation Fellowship Recipient, 1988

Anita Olson Gustafson
Alumnae Dissertation Fellow, 1988

Dr. Anita O. Gustafson is Professor of History at Presbyterian College, Clinton, South Carolina, where she has taught since 1997. In her words, “my research field is American immigration history, particularly the movement of people from Sweden to America, but I have also developed interests in a number of other areas in American history. I teach American Colonial and Revolutionary History, History of the South, Women in American History, Young America, Immigration History, Slavery and Freedom in America, American history survey courses, as well as the Rise of World Cultures and Ideas and the Modern World, which are PC’s general education courses. I have also led, with other faculty colleagues, travel courses to Oxford University and to the American West of Lewis and Clark.

I received my B.A. in Swedish and economics with a minor in history at North Park University in Chicago, Illinois. It was at North Park that I came to understand the value of an education received at a small liberal arts college. I earned my M.A. and my Ph.D. from Northwestern University. Shortly after completing my doctorate, my husband, Charlie, and I moved to South Carolina where a few years later our son Karl was born. We now enjoy living near the Presbyterian College campus and feel very much at home in South Carolina. In 2007 I was named Presbyterian College’s Professor of the Year and receive an Excellence in Teaching Award from the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities.

Despite living in a part of the country where few Swedes settled, I have continued my research in Swedish immigration history. I have published a number of articles, including: ‘We Hope to be Able to Do Some Good: Swedish American Women’s Organizations in Chicago,’ for which I received the Franklin Scott prize for best new article appearing in the Swedish-American Historical Quarterly. Others I have published are: ‘Jenny Lind on Tour: The Swedish Nightingale’s Visit to Charleston, 1850-1851,’ ‘North Park: Building a Swedish Community in Chicago,’ and ‘Teaching Swedish in the Public Schools: Cultural Persistence in Minneapolis.’ I hope to have my manuscript, ‘Making Chicago Swedish: The Shaping of an immigrant Community in Chicago, 1880-1920,’ published soon.

Reflection on the Alumnae Fellowship

I am proud to be an alumna of Northwestern University and to be counted among the many talented women who have benefited from the Dissertation Fellowship. This award from the Alumnae of Northwestern University allowed me to complete my Ph.D. in history in a timely fashion by supporting me as I completed my dissertation research. My graduate experience at Northwestern prepared me well for my career as a professor and as a college administrator. You might say that I’ve paid back my Dissertation Fellowship by paying it forward—mentoring young women and men so that they can make the most of their education and serve as role models for those who follow after them.

Ana Croegaert

Dissertation Fellowship Recipient, 2005

Ana Croegaert
Alumnae Dissertation Fellow, 2005

Ph.D. Anthropology, Northwestern University; Assistant Professor, University of New Orleans My work aims to bridge scholarly and popular publics by creating spaces for people to explore and debate migration and ways of belonging in 21st century cities thru their interactions with images, sound and artifacts drawn from ethnographic research. Inequality and identity formations are core themes in my work.

I have conducted fieldwork in the United States and in former Yugoslavia. In addition to my current academic appointment in Anthropology and Urban Studies at the University of New Orleans, I’ve held a postdoctoral fellowship with The Field Museum in Chicago, where I drafted and co-directed the first phase of a new collections initiative on 21st Century Urban Material Cultures. I have been a Visiting Professor in Gender Studies at Mount Holyoke College (MA) and at Loyola University (IL), and I have over 5 years of experience working in the governmental and non-profit sectors in Chicago.

My peer-reviewed publications can be found in American Anthropologist (2011) and Identities (2010), and my popular writing can be found in The Global Health Reader (2009) and Anthropology News (2011).

Impact of the Alumnae Dissertation Fellowship:

The Alumnae of Northwestern awarded my dissertation research an Alumnae Dissertation Fellowship in 2005, providing essential support to writing up the findings of my two years of ethnographic fieldwork exploring the impacts of war and displacement on a cohort of refugees relocated from Bosnia-Herzegovina to Chicago, IL, and examining this group’s attempts to alter their circumstances. I earned my PhD in Anthropology, with a Graduate Certificate in Gender Studies, in 2007, and the findings from my research have been published in my discipline’s flagship journal, in other peer-reviewed journals and anthologies, and in a book manuscript, Gathering Grounds: The pathos and promise of forced migration (currently under review for publication). The writing year fellowship was absolutely critical to my progress in my program, and in forwarding the publication stage of my research. I was a single parent during my entire graduate school career, and I did not receive any financial support from my son’s father. Like so many women in similar circumstances, my career could easily have been derailed—at least temporarily—by the necessity of paying monthly living expenses. The Alumnae Fellowship provided not only financial support during this tough period in my life, but in supporting the research in this way, The Alumnae also validated the need for rigorous, ethnographic scholarship that documents gender inequity and its relationship to citizenship and belonging, and contributes to scholarly and public debates that address the need to end social and economic inequities. Thank you for this opportunity to express my gratitude to The Alumnae of Northwestern University!

Aili Tripp

Dissertation Fellowship Recipient, 1988

Aili Tripp
Alumnae Dissertation Fellow, 1988

Aili Mari Tripp is Professor of Political Science and Gender & Women's Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tripp has published numerous books and articles on women’s movements in Africa and internationally, global feminism, gender and politics in Africa and globally, and on women in post-conflict African countries. Tripp has a forthcoming book with University of Cambridge Press entitled, Gender and Power in Post-Conflict Africa. She has published Museveni's Uganda: Paradoxes of Power (2010), co-authored a book with Isabel Casimiro, Joy Kwesiga and Alice Mungwa entitled African Women’s Movements: Transforming Political Landscapes (2009), and is author of Women and Politics in Uganda (2000) and Changing the Rules: The Politics of Liberalization and the Urban Informal Economy in Tanzania (1997). Tripp has edited and co-edited four other volumes. She co-edits a book series with Stanlie James on Women in Africa and the Diaspora for the University of Wisconsin Press. She served as president of the African Studies Association and vice president of the American Political Science Association and has served on numerous boards of professional academic associations. Born in the UK, Tripp has lived 15 years in Tanzania and has dual citizenship in the US and Finland. Her research is based on fieldwork in Tanzania, Uganda, Liberia, Angola and DR Congo.

Reflection on the Alumnae Fellowship
I received the award from the Alumnae Association in 1988 right after I had returned from carrying out fieldwork in Tanzania so it was incredibly helpful in allowing me to complete my dissertation. The dissertation eventually became a book that was published by University of California Press, entitled Changing the Rules: The Politics of Liberalization and the Urban Informal Economy in Tanzania, which launched my career. It helped me get a position as a professor in Political Science and Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I have remained for 23 years.
You don’t have to include this but as I recall, the best part of it was that I did not have to apply because my PhD advisor nominated me. I was not expecting it so it was a complete surprise! That is the best kind of award . . . an unexpected one

Cheris Shun-ching Chan

Dissertation Fellowship Recipient, 2003

Cheris Shun-ching Chan
Alumnae Dissertation Fellow, 2003
Cheris Shun-ching Chan is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University and a postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA’s International Institute. Before joining the University of Hong Kong, she was an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh and a fellow of the Summer Institute on Economy and Society from the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Chan’s research interests include culture, economic practices, healthcare, globalization, and Chinese societies. Her writings have appeared in the top-tier academic journals, including the American Journal of Sociology, British Journal of Sociology, Theory and Society, Social Psychology Quarterly, China Quarterly, and International Sociology. Some of her articles have received prizes from the American Sociological Association. Chan’s first book, Marketing Death: Culture and the Making of a Life Insurance Market in China (OUP, 2012), has won two awards and one honorable mention from the American Sociological Association and the Society for the Study of Social Problems.
Impact of the Alumnae Dissertation Fellowship
Cheris Shun-ching Chan received NU’s Alumnae Dissertation Fellowship in 2003 – 2004. This fellowship not only allowed her to complete her dissertation on time, it enabled her to produce an outstanding thesis that generated a number of award-winning articles published in top-tier academic journals. By enabling Chan to concentrate on her writing in her last year of graduate study, the Dissertation Fellowship facilitated her to produce world-class scholarly works that eventually won her other prestigious fellowships and impressive career path. Chan received three job offers upon her graduation in 2004, including offers from the University of Arizona, the University of Pittsburgh, and the National University of Singapore. She was the awardee of a number of highly competitive fellowships, including of the Summer Institute on Economy and Society from the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University (2006), the Global Fellowship from the International Institution at UCLA (2006-2008), and the Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Center for East Asian Studies at Stanford University (2006-2007, awarded but declined). Chan’s dissertation was subsequently turned into her first book, Marketing Death: Culture and the Making of a Life Insurance Market in China, published by Oxford University Press in 2012 (http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Death-Culture-Making-Insurance/dp/0195394070/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330247343&sr=8-2 ).

Based on extensive ethnographic research, the book analyzes the role of culture in shaping the trajectory and features of a new market. It details how the Chinese cultural taboo on the discussion of premature death affects the organizational strategies of transnational and domestic life insurance firms in mainland China. This book has won two awards and one honorable mention from the American Sociological Association and the Society for the Study of Social Problems. It is also featured at an audio research talk show, Up Close, at the University of Melbourne, Australia and at the Chinese service on Radio Netherlands ( http://upclose.unimelb.edu.au/episode/202-china-life-managing-cultural-taboos-your-marketing-strategy ).